Desire For All That Is Lost
by calmxbeforexthexstorm
Summary: The nightmares won't stop. The darkness wants the keybearer once again. But for what reason? Riku has been having reoccuring nightmares while traveling the worlds with his best friend Sora. Can he protect those he cares about from the darkness this time?
1. Into the black abyss

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**-Desire For All That Is Lost-**

**-Intro-**

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_-You've been hiding in the shadows; have you forgotten how we used to dream?-_

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.......

-o**X**o-

.......

This can't be happening.

It's just a dream: A horrible, horrible dream. It _has_ to be.

"Why…?" The silver haired teen's eye's trembled with fear as he took in the scene before him. Everything he tried to protect—_everything_—had fallen apart.

His heart sank as low as it possibly could and he took in the bodies around him. The battered, mutilated bodies of the people he worked so hard to protect... As he stared, the forms seemed to evaporate into the air.

All except for one. The familiar bodies of his friend's were all gone; clearing the way so that Riku could see the one person he would give his own life for in a _heartbeat_.

But, that couldn't be possible. _No. _

The silver haired teen began to shake—terrified—and he took a step back. Before him, his best friend was collapsed to the ground and his eyes were still slightly open. Sora couldn't die. He was the savior of the worlds! He…just couldn't die.

"_**Sora**_!"

Overcome with dread and grief, Riku stumbled to his friend's side and quickly fell to his knees and gathered Sora's blood-covered body into his arms. "_Sora!_? Answer me! Wh-What is this!? _Why_!?" Riku's hands cupped the brunet's face and he continued to plead and beg for some kind of response. "_Damn it_! What the hell is this!?" The tone of his voice had taken a desperate edge and he grasped Sora's shoulders and shook him, but all the brunet could do was stare blankly into the darkness before them.

_No. No...No-no-no-no-no!_

Sora was the light. There was just no way he could be beaten by the darkness. "I will not let you die!" Riku clung to Sora tightly, his eyes watering and his hand snaked into the bloodied cinnamon locks. "You can't leave me; **I'll** _die_." As Riku stared into the brunet's face, his insides fell to pieces. How could he still look so beautiful in this type of situation? Even though his shirt was ripped, revealing a large portion of his abdomen that had been slashed, and his arms were bruised and battered; he still looked as gorgeous as he always did. Someone so pure—so loving—and sincere…Seeing someone as perfect as Sora in this condition, not even knowing how he had gotten to this state, was devastating.

Riku finally broke down and sobbed into the brunet's chest, begging every deity he knew for his friend to be given back. Or just to be taken instead.

"How is this possible?" The silver haired teen stuttered quietly and he stopped when the body in his arms began to shake. A laugh broken the eerie silence, causing Riku to quickly pull back to look down through red-rimmed, fearful eyes at Sora's face.

Sora was laughing. The raw sound harshly forced itself out of the brunet's throat and Riku stared in utter shock at the shaking mass in his arms. This wasn't his best friend. Sora didn't laugh so...maliciously and hysterically. Sora's true laugh reminded him of the twinkling bells on a wind chime and made him feel as if you were sitting on a beach gazing into the sky. It was always bright.

But this, _this_ laugh made his skin crawl. Riku's arms trembled around the brunet when his mouth opened wider and pools of crimson liquid spilled from the sides of his mouth.

Then, just like all the others, Sora evaporated. But much to Riku's horror, the laughing didn't.

"Are you scared?" The silver haired teen twitched when he heard the voice and rose to his feet.

"Who are you!?" Riku shouted, enraged and broken when his only answer was more laughter. "Where are my friends? Where is _Sora_!?" The teen cried out into the darkness. "What friends? You have no friends; in fact, you never did. They all hate you for your link to the darkness, as well as your betrayal." Riku shuddered at the words as they struck a dark, horrid cord in his heart. "They're dead now anyway. Because of _you_!" The voice shrouded by the darkness chided him spitefully.

_That's not true!_ Riku was trembling so badly that he could barely keep himself on his feet. "Oh, but it is!" The voice seemed to be growing more taunting while Riku's eyes widened when he realized his thoughts were being read. "And it's your entire fault! You weren't strong enough to protect them. You're weak, just a slave to darkness."

"That's—_that's a lie_!" Riku tried to summon his keyblade, but he looked down at his body and his brows trembled. It was evaporating now also. _No!_

"What will you do? I doubt even the darkness would want you. Where does one go if neither the darkness nor the light will accept them?" The voice asked. "You surely weren't useful to either." Riku fell to one knee and snapped his eyes shut to that the sudden aching in his head would subside.

"But then again, you are good at hurting and deceiving people."

The silver haired teen choked as he felt his heart clench at those words. That was the torment he had been living with. He didn't deserve forgiveness... Especially from Sora, whom he hurt physically and emotionally. Sora was Riku's _life_—his whole world. But...

"He's better…off without me." Riku grabbed his chest as the tears rolled down his face faster. The only thing that ached more than the pain was the regret that constantly clawed at his insides at every waking moment.

"The _world _is better off without you." As his hand twisted in the fabric above his aching chest, Riku could feel himself sinking further under the weight of his agony and despair. "The key will be mine. He doesn't need you_. _How could you even think that he'd want to see your face after what you've done?" The words, which were whispered slowly enough for the teen to take them in, stabbed Riku straight to his heart.

"No..." The teen's diluted viridian irises flicked to his torso to find it disintegrating. So he was going to evaporate as well...

"Yes. You've no reason to live." A dark figure stepped out of the shadows and a ray of light blinded the teen when it shot down in front of him. The teen could make out a pair of empty crimson eyes before the body was enveloped in the swirling darkness Riku knew all too well. "You..." The figure's form distorted until it looked exactly like Riku. The only difference was his eye colour. The visible eye that shone from under his hair—which had a slightly darker hue to it—had an eerie yellow tint and the other one was covered by his bangs. It was black, he noted when the replica began to chuckle and lower his head. It was…pitch black. Like he had no eye at all. When the silver haired teen's complete disbelief revealed itself on his face, the figure smirked. "Die." He lunged forward and plunged his hand straight through Riku's slowly evaporating chest.

The only thing Riku could do was keep his widened eyes locked onto the imposter's features. And even though Riku was still able to feel the searing pain, he could not move. Was he really going to die like this?

With the darkness clawing at his insides, threatening him with whispers of how something so evil—so close to the darkness—could never even hope to have the light want anything to do with him.

"Sora." He whispered, more broken than ever.

"Hmph. I'll give you a fun little warning," The replica leaned forward so that his breath was on Riku's ear. "If you're not careful, I'll snatch the keyblade boy right from under you."

The silver haired teen didn't even get the chance to ask what was meant by the statement. His mouth dropped open the same time his eyes shut as the hand that twisted inside his chest was ripped out. In his head, he murmured the name of the one he loved more than anything, remembering the crystal blue eyes and warm smile that lit his heart.

His brows twitched and he inhaled sharply when he finally noticed how quickly he was dissolving. "You…Who are you…?" His lips moved slowly while the blood dripped down his chin. "Telling you would kill half the fun I'm going to have."

The last words that Riku heard before the black abyss took over were, "I'll be seeing you soon."

The laughing soon started up again, bringing him closer to letting go.

And then he woke up.

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**0–End–Intro–0 **

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*Frolics.*

Poo. I really hated this. But I still needed a Prologue. At least it's better than before (I actually tried this time.) But it's late and I don't feel like putting 100 percent of my effort into it. I'll do that eventually.

But still, I love these types of fics. I've always wanted to write my own little KH events. So fun!!! :D

**RIKUXSORA and EVERYONE ELSE** _belong to_ **SQUARE-ENIX** (or whatever they're called these days.)

And the opening quote is from _Become;_ by the Goo Goo Dolls. (Love that band~!)


	2. Hand in Hand

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**-Desire For All That Is Lost-**

**-Chapter 1-**

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_-Let me remind you, the light doesn't blind you at all,_

_It just helps you see-_

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-0**O**0-

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A bead of sweat ran down the silver haired teen's neck as he roughly sat up.

_What…the hell was that!?_

The disoriented male reached a hand up to his bare chest, which was also slightly damp from sweat and he tried to steady his breathing. That was too real to be a dream... But it still _was_, right?

Deciding to put the nightmare behind him, Riku wiped his forehead at stared out of his small window when the bright light slipped through his curtains. The sun was already shining.

Riku closed his eyes a moment and ran his hand through his hair when he moved to get up.

His viridian irises flicked around his small room and he sighed. It was quiet… not that he expected there to be any noise. After all, his parents had disappeared before he and Sora arrived back on the islands after defeating Xemnas. Every now and again he would think about them—about his mother's pretty smile and his father's loud, yet warming laugh. The silence had set him off at first, but he was slowly getting used to it. He couldn't stand to linger on the subject any longer, so he rose to his bare feet.

It wasn't terribly lonely. In fact, he was hardly ever alone. Because Riku's parents had been the ones to leave everything—along with the memory of their son—behind and move away, Sora felt sympathy for his best friend and rarely gave him a moment to be by himself. Riku couldn't thank the brunet enough for that.

With another sigh, he trekked to the bathroom and stood in front of the mirror. His long silver bangs hung in his face, partially hiding his viridian irises. That reflection had always haunted him before when he thought back on how he might never have returned to it. What would Sora have done if he was stuck in Ansem's form? Would he keep his distance and treat him as an outsider…? Of course, Riku probably wouldn't have have stuck around, in fear of bringing the darkness back. He couldn't do that again...

The teen was in the middle of washing his face when he heard the front door of his small island home creak open. "Riku!" The teen heard his name being called out cheerfully and he grabbed his towel. Recognizing the voice instantly, Riku smiled, and quickly dried his face and somewhat fixed his layered silver tresses before he walked into the living room, still holding the towel. "Sora." The teen threw a grin at his friend and the brunet chuckled. "How are you?" When the brunet's lips curled into a wider smile, Riku chuckled and turned to throw his towel back at the bathroom door. "Great. What's up?"

The brunet shrugged and trotted into his best friend's home, making himself comfortable. Riku's eyes softened when he took in his friend's profile. He was so glad that the brunet looked perfectly fine. That stupid nightmare had him panicking.

"Kairi and I are going to the island with Tidus, Selphie, and Wakka today. I was wondering if you wanted to go?" The question made Riku smile, and he shrugged. Could they ever get enough of the ocean? Nope. Not in the least. "Sure. Just let me grab a few things and get a quick shower first." The brunet nodded and watched his friend retreat to his bedroom.

Riku still remembered the nightmare from last night. Even if Selphie had too much damn energy, and Tidus could be a real stubborn brat, or even that Wakka would ramble on about Blitzball for hours to anyone within hearing distance, he had to see his friends to make sure they were still all right. Riku cared for them; he truly did. And that went double for Sora.

"I'm going to grab something to eat, okay?" When his friend grunted in response, Sora happily made his way to his friend's kitchen to search for his beloved munchies.

A few minutes later, Riku entered the room, drying his head with another towel. His lips twitched upward when he noticed that Sora was sitting atop of the table munching happily on something-or-other. _This dork..._ Riku chuckled to himself as he walked over towards the brunet and prodded his nose playfully. "Riku, I don't know why you took a shower, since we're going to be playing in the water at the island." The brunet started to chuckle a bit until he began choking slightly on his food, which Riku now realized was the cereal he had stashed away.

"You okay? And yeah, I thought of that while I was in there. Oh well… What are we going to be doing at the island, anyway?" The silver haired teen questioned and patted the brunet on the back. "Tidus, Wakka, and Selphie are already there; probably playing blitzball. I kind of wanted to lie in the sand for a while and then go swimming. It's a really nice day." His cerulean eyes glittered when he shifted to glance out the window.

Riku laughed at his friend when he spotted the small pieces of cereal at the corner of his mouth. "Whafk?" The brunet spoke through another mouthful of food, looking like an angry chipmunk. "Way to go, brainless. You have food on your face." The silver haired teen chuckled and the brunet blushed at the fondness in his voice. "How could _you_ possibly miss your mouth?" His long, graceful fingers smoothed and brushed the food away and the brunet shivered at how cold his hand felt, yet how warm his touch was. "There we go." Riku smiled gently, retracting his fingers and Sora kept his cerulean eyes on the teen. "Thanks!" With a nod, Riku snatched the cereal box from his friend and but it back in its rightful place inside his cupboard.

"Now get your butt off the table so we can get down to the docks." Riku laughed and ruffled Sora's wild cinnamon spikes, enjoying the pout he received. "Meanie... All right, all right." Sora began to whistle as he hopped off the table and followed Riku out of the house, still munching on his last handful of cereal.

"So where's Kairi?" Riku asked as he opened the door for the slender brunet. After Sora thanked his friend he pointed towards the ocean, they both stepped out into the sunlight. "She's waiting for us down by our boats. It's her turn to bring us food for lunch again so she should have a picnic basket with her." The brunet caught his friend's teasing look and he raised an eyebrow. "What. She _should_ have brought a separate basket for you and your appetite." Sora suppressed the urge to laugh at his friend's jab and folded his arms. "Why do you always bring my stomach up? I'm not that fat!" He began to pout and Riku poked him in the nose again. "Of course you're not fat. I'd say more along the lines of a stomach with feet." He also had to hold back a smile and shoved his hands into the pockets of his loose jeans.

"Hey! Take that back!" Sora stopped and shouted, jutting his lip out just enough that Riku thought a bird was going to perch on it. "Nope." The silver haired teen finally let his chuckles escape as he started sprinting towards their boats, with a slender brunet trailing him. All the way to the docks, people watched the two race by—laughing all the while.

It all felt so perfect.

"You're so mean, Riku..." The poor, breathless teen muttered as he rested on the ground and looked up at his best friend. The two had eventually stopped running. After Sora caught up with Riku and jumped on his back, the poor teen had to stumble to keep from falling as he ran. They had almost made it to the shore until Riku tripped and recently fell, laughing and dusting himself off. "Yeah, but you still love me." The silver haired teen finally caught his breath and straightened up and stretched.

Sora clear eyes rolled in their sockets at his friend's words, but he smiled. "Yeah, sure." The silver haired teen took in his friend's adorable smile and he quickly averted his eyes. Almost every time he secretly glanced at the brunet, his heart ached and he would forget to look away.

The two eventually saw the docks in the distance and Kairi sitting down hanging her feet over the edge of the wooden pier. After Sora called out her name, the redhead turned and spotted them moving closer. "Hey guys!" Sora raced down to the pier and up to his waving friend. "Hey Kai. Ready to go?" She smiled and nodded until her violet eyes rested on Riku, who followed slowly with his hand in his pocket. "Hi, Riku." Her smile widened and she watched Riku nod. His eyes were cautious and he seemed a bit tense as he watched Sora converse with his red-haired friend.

She _knew _the reason. Kairi knew about Riku's infatuation with his best friend. She wondered if he even realized it himself. Though, the thought of Sora comprehending it was highly unlikely. Guys just weren't good at obvious things like that. (This was no exception from Sora's case.)

"Well then…Ready to go?" The two males nodded and hopped into their boats; Kairi in hers, and Riku offering to share one with his brunet friend, so they didn't have so many boats crowding the islands.

--

"Ah...It sure has gotten hotter out."

The slender brunet wiped at his forehead before getting out of Riku's boat and hauling himself onto the island's pier. "Well, it is a tropical island." Kairi playfully poked him and he flopped down lazily on the wooden planks. The brunet's two friends chuckled at the sluggish brunet and Riku poked him gently with his foot. "What's that one for Kairi?" Sora's delicate brow arched when his friend pulled two baskets out of her tiny boat. "For you and the bottomless pit you call a stomach." She offhandedly explained and a teasing smile formed on her lips a moment later, which made Riku laugh and shake his head. Sora could feel his cheeks heating up and he rose to his feet in protest. "...A guy's got to eat." He muttered in defeat, rubbing his stomach.

"Yeah, but it's not fair. You eat like a pig, but you're so skinny. How do you do it?" Kairi asked and jabbed him in the stomach and he recoiled, letting an embarrassing squeak slip past his pink lips. "Because he has as much energy as Selphie." Riku added and also poked the brunet, though on his cherry-coloured cheek.

Despite the fact that his friends were picking on him, Sora smiled to himself and glanced at his silver haired friend. It was so wonderful to have Riku back…

The rapid sound of footsteps was heard behind the teens and before Sora could turn around, he felt something whack into his stomach, sending his slender body flying none-too-gently into the water under the pier. "Sora!" Riku's eyes widened and he jumped down after his friend without a second thought.

"Score!" Tidus yelled, jumping in the air and waving his oar around victoriously. He was too wound up to notice Selphie and Wakka coming up behind him with glares on their faces. "What the hell, Tidus?" Riku yelled back at the sandy-blonde and flashed him a scowl as he helped Sora up. "Ya man, not so rough with the little guy." Wakka sent the back of his hand into the back of Tidus' thick skull and the blonde growled. "Tidus you bonehead, what'd you do that for?" Selphie sighed and checked over the pier to see if her friend was okay.

"You all right?" Riku's brows furrowed as he held Sora up securely. The brunet nodded and coughed up water slightly. "Fine! I was just a little surprised." He replied and looked up to Riku to flash him a smile. The silver haired teen sighed and moved the wet locks from Sora's face and running his hand over his cheek. _He's so beautiful... _

"Good."

Sora's cheeks slightly heated up at such an affectionate gesture, and the look he was receiving from Riku was different from the usual calm and gentle ones he was used to seeing. "Oi...Sorry man; I got carried away." Tidus called to Sora and his brows furrowed apologetically. "Tidus is just mad that he lost against me again, ya?" Wakka smirked and Tidus glared at him. "I didn't lose!"

Selphie laughed and tilted her head to the side. "Yes you did! Wakka knocked you off the raised isle seven times before you assumed that he was 'cheating' somehow and then chased him like a lunatic." The redheaded female in the group chuckled when she watched Tidus' face redden, "Why don't we just go swimming for a while?" Kairi suggested and rubbed Sora's back soothingly when the brunet let Riku help him back on the pier. "Nah, I think I'll go sit on the paopu tree." Sora shook his head, getting everyone wet, and then laughed at their scowls. But they never could stay mad at the brunet; their lips tugged into grins and they all walked into the sand.

"Fine, have it your way, man." With a mighty yell, Tidus threw himself onto his redheaded friend's back and pointed to the sparkling water. "To the ocean, slave!" He called and his friends chuckled.

"Oi..." Wakka laughed before he, his leech, and Selphie ran towards the beach.

"I'll go with Sora." After Riku had turned to follow his best friend, Kairi walked back to the pier and sat on the edge, dangling her legs over it with a content smile on her face.

_Nothing's changed..._

-0**O**0-

Sora situated himself on the bent paopu tree, staring out to the sea he loved so much.

The brunet's ears perked up when he heard quiet footsteps approaching from behind. "What are you thinking about?" Sora turned his head to see his silver haired friend and he shrugged when Riku climbed up to sit closely at his side. "Not much." Sora's cerulean eyes fluttered shut and he yawned, feeling strangely content with the warm body next to him. "I see. But, you're usually not this quiet. Something wrong?" Riku asked, watching the brunet fidget.

"I've been thinking about this island... You know, coming home and everything." Riku nodded when Sora trailed off and played with his slender fingers. "Getting restless?" The look in the brunet's eyes had told him he'd been right on the mark.

"Kind of, but I love it here. I mean, I've missed it so much—the islands, my friends, my...parents." Riku nodded again, but his heart gave a faint twist and he sighed. "I've told you that you can come live with us, right?" Sora's clear eyes locked with his friend's and there was a good amount of concern behind them. "You have. But...much as I appreciate the offer—and I can't even tell you how much it means to me—I still want to live there. It holds a lot of memories for me." He responded and his pale lips curved into a slight grin. "Oh…" Sora decided to drop the issue, a little depressed that his friend had refused again. No matter how many times Sora reminded him, Riku just couldn't let his old life go. The brunet understood that, though he just wanted to see his best friend happy…

"Riku..."

A light breeze ruffled the teens' hair and they turned towards the shouts coming from the beach; where Tidus was currently chasing Wakka around with an oar and Selphie was trying to trip the blonde with her old jumprope, while Kairi still sat on the pier laughing at them.

"Everything is just like it was before the Heartless came." Riku commented as he watched the group with a certain nostalgic quality lighting his gaze. The statement brought a bright smile to the brunet's face and he pulled his legs up to wrap his slender arms around them. "That's good; I love it this way. Together with all of you." Sora looked at the setting sun and rested his chin on his knees while Riku thought about their past and future...and what he had done to set them both off course. "Wow...It's getting late already," Sora cut into his thoughts, and when he slowly glanced at the brunet his breath caught in his throat. Sora looked adorable in the sun's setting light, though some of his features were shadowed. But those breathtaking, sky-blue irises still continued to sparkle as clearly as ever.

Riku's own viridian irises locked onto the yellow fruit hanging above Sora's head. The omnipresent question swirled around in his head and he wondered if he'd ever have the courage to ask Sora to share one. He remembered his previous attempt: it was just tossed aside. The brunet had done so jokingly, for Riku had panicked at the last minute and made no attempts to reveal that he was being serious, but it still slightly hurt. _Slightly_…Yeah, what an understatement.

"Hey Riku, can I stay over at your house tonight?" The question caused the silver haired teen to raise an eyebrow, but he nodded. "Of course. Is there any particular reason?" The brunet hopped off of the tree and shook his head. "Nope. I just want to spend some time with my best friend!" Riku smiled and affectionately ruffled his friend's soft, unruly spikes. "You don't even have to ask for that. But, you should tell your mom you'll be staying. Just meet me at my house after." Sora nodded, beaming at his friend until he heard Kairi calling to him. "Okay. Come on!" Sora touched his friend's hand lightly before jumping of the cliff into the water and sprinting to the shore.

"Kairi!" He heard Sora's call and he closed his eyes. The teen wanted to stay on the islet and watch the sunset a little more, but truthfully, he was more eager to spend some alone time with Sora.

So he followed along and met his friends as they climbed up to the small tree house and divided up the food, laughing and talking just like they used to before they actually ate their meal.

They finished the food quickly and finally decided it was time to leave their island. (But not before Sora and Selphie pushed Tidus off the pier—laughing when he resurfaced, cursing all the while, and chased them with his fists shaking in the air.)

Overall, it had been a great day.

--

"Oh man, did you see Tidus's face after we pushed him into the water?" Sora laughed and slipped into his friend's bedroom with the silver haired teen close behind. "Yeah, I thought he was going to cry, or burst a blood vessel." Riku snorted, watching Sora set his clothes on the floor by the closet before he plopped down on his bed. "Ah, I missed staying over here." Sora sighed happily and grabbed Riku's pillow, which held the teen's alluring scent, and he inhaled. _Mmm_. Why must Riku smell so nice?

"You were here last week." The teen let out an amused laugh as he took a seat in his desk chair. "Oi..." The brunet rubbed his eyes with the back of his hands and he stretched. "I'm so tired…" Riku caught a glimpse of the teen's tan, slender abdomen because of his posture and he decided to flick his eyes away. "Just go to sleep then." He smiled when Sora tried to keep his eyes open but was failing miserably. "But I wanted to hang out! We haven't even done anything." He whined tiredly and glanced at his friend.

"We spent the day together, Sora." Riku smiled and set the book he had picked up down. "But don't worry; we'll have all day tomorrow too. Just go to bed Sora. You need rest." Riku advised, getting up and eased onto the mattress."All right. G'night!" Sora grinned lazily and rolled over, still cuddling the pillow. As soon as the brunet drifted off, Riku gently caressed his fingers through Sora's soft hair. "Goodnight." He whispered as he slipped his warm blanket around the slender brunet (he disliked sleeping with covers when it was hot out) and gathered him into his arms. "Sora..." He touched his Sora's cheek softly and the feeling in his heart expanded when the brunet snuggled into his chest. With a content smile, the silver haired teen allowed his heavy eyelids to flutter shut.

* * *

--

_"Soon you'll have nowhere left to run..." The voice taunted. But Riku kept running—Running through the dark, terrifying void._

_How could he have another nightmare like this? So real…_

_"Nowhere left to go and no one left to care!" Riku stopped and bent forward, out of breath and he fisted a hand into his sleeveless, black zipper-up shirt. No. He had Sora! Sora cared about him! He did…_

_"You're not going to change that! You can't change __**me**__!" His eyes flicked around in every possible direction, but there was no light. "Who are you? Why are you doing this?" He called out and expected silence—or laughter—but was instead given an actual reply, "I feel no need to reveal myself to you." The amusement in the voice made the silver haired teen tighten his fists. _

_"What is it that you want, Riku?" The voice asked, laughing._

_"For you to leave me the hell alone!" The laughing grew louder and Riku lifted his chin, slowly closing his eyes in an effort to calm down. "Though you are amusing, we don't really need you. You're just a puppet to us—a puppet to the darkness. Again." Riku's eyes widened and he clenched his teeth. "You're wrong, I'm not a puppet! Not to the darkness. Not to anyone!" Riku seethed angrily._

_"Oh well. You can say what you like, but in the end, we'll have what we _want_."_

"_You're talking about Sora, aren't you?" He remembered the words from the previous nightmare and he began running forward, desperate to get somewhere. "Don't even think about it!" Riku shouted and skidded to a halt, looking around wildly when he heard a chuckle echo around him. "Why should it matter, since you have nothing to do with the boy? He's just using you; trying to hurt you for hurting him. After all, who wants a traitor?" _

_Riku hung his head. "That's...That's not...true." _

_A figure stepped out of the shadows, bringing forth light, and roughly grasped Riku's face in his gloved hand. It was the same replica as before. His eyes narrowed when the figure smirked and parted its lips, "Unfortunately for you it is. He'll leave you all alone and run off with that girl. Just like you fear. Give it up."_

_No..."No!" Riku batted away the hand and to his surprise, he was able to summon his blade. The elegant weapon gleamed black in the faint light and the silver haired teen held it out with certain determination revelaed through his pose. "Never! I swore that I would always be by his side! You can't change that." The replica's glowing eye narrowed and a low growl emitted from its throat. "I think, I can." It articulated slowly and made a lunge for Riku. This time Riku dodged it and kicked at the shadow, quickly spiraling around to slam his blade into the back of the shadow's head. "Lucky. But, can you do it again?" Riku was about to answer when something stabbed him from behind._

_He spat out blood and fell to his knees. Again? "You're a bit pathetic, you know that?" The original silver haired teen placed a hand on the ground and coughed again, flinching when he felt the clone hover over him. "Tsk, Tsk..." The replica folded his arms before a different, slightly-taunting look crossed his face. "Tell me Riku, do you miss your parents?" Riku looked up slowly, eyes wide and jaw tight. "Even they abandoned you. How does it feel?" The silver haired teen lowered his head again and snapped his eyes shut._ _'No, he's not going to play me like this!' Riku's thoughts held firm as he tried to push himself up on his forearms. _

_"This might shock you, but I have their hearts." _

_The shadow waved his hand and two shadows formed slowly in front of him. Slowly, they became clearer. Riku's heart trembled when he made out the figures—his parents. Fear written on their faces._

_"Aren't they beautiful? They screamed and cried out so excellently when they were being turned into heartless" With a wave of his darkened hand, the replica formed the small shadows into heartless forms. "The expressions on their faces when I ripped their hearts from them made my own heart fill will joy." _

"_You're lying…They moved away from the island! They couldn't have—" _

"_Did they know what a horrible person you are? A traitor? They should have moved away, then maybe they would've been spared." _

_Riku reached for the shadow beings. "Mom...Dad…" It couldn't be true. He coughed up more blood and collapsed to the ground. The shadow laughed and seized a fistful of Riku's blood-stained hair and brought their faces together. "B-Bastard..." The teen gasped angrily._

_Riku held his bleeding stomach and the figure smirked eerily. "Since I have a time limit, I'll be leaving now." The figure roughly let go of the teen's hair and watched his head drop before he turned and slowly walked away. "Take great care of Sora for me."  
"Wait…" Riku's vision blurred and he fell to the ground, hearing the sounds of the two heartless slowly moving closer._

_Why was this happening?_

* * *

..……………..

-0**O**0-

..……………..

"Riku? Riku, wake up! Please!"

"Riku! Don't do this to me!"

The silver haired teen's viridian eyes snapped open in a flash. It took him a moment to notice his obviously concerned best friend hovering above him with one hand on the side of his head, and one on his cheek. "Riku!" Sora sighed in relief and rested his head on his friends chest for a few moments, "Thank goodness... I've been calling you for about ten minutes. You were having a nightmare!" When Riku inhaled shakily, Sora's hand brushed his bangs aside and his brows creased. "Are you okay?" The brunet asked with worry still lining his features. "I'm…fine." Riku lied, looking off to the side.

"Are you sure?" When the teen nodded, Sora stared at him for a few moments then shook his head. "Yeah." Riku smiled and touched the hand that still lingered on his cheek. "Don't worry about me."

Sora hesitantly accepted his friend's words and then rolled off of the bed, waiting for his friend to follow.

_What was Riku dreaming about? _Sora's thoughts strayed momentarily and he glanced back at his friend to find the other right behind him. "Let's go get some breakfast!" Throwing his previous anxiety away, Sora cheered and hurried to the kitchen, a bright grin appearing on his face when Riku leaned against the doorframe.

"What do you want to eat?" Amused, Riku sifted through his half-empty drawers and cupboards for something to eat and Sora shrugged. "Some eggs, bacon and toast? Maybe some pancakes, too?" He asked hopefully, with a sweet smile on his cherubic face. And although Riku laughed, he remembered he hadn't been able to go shopping this week… "This isn't a bed and breakfast, Sora, as much as I'd love to make those things for you." The silver haired teen chuckled at his friend's pout and handed him the cereal he had been into the other day. "Well, this stuff is good, too." He smiled and tore into the box again while Riku murmured, "What an appetite."

As Riku waited for his friend to finish—he always looked so adorable stuffing his face—he rested his head in his hands and simply observed his friend's cute actions. Sora quickly dug through the box as if he had hardly eaten any food these past few months. (Which definitely wasn't true.) "Rifkuu?" The brunet spoke with his mouth full and Riku chuckled. "I'm just amazed at how much you really can eat." Riku explained as his embarrased friend finally put the nearly-empty box back in its place. "Why don't we go for a walk?" Sora's asked as he glanced out of the window and turned back to his smiling friend.

"You're still in your jammies, Sor..." The brunet looked down, confirming the statement with his own eyes, and he blushed. He couldn't even remember changing into them! "Oh. Well, that's okay. We can just go sit on the beach and relax today." Riku nodded, the very idea sounding fantastic to him.

The silver haired teen stepped up to the front door and opened it, bowing chivalrously when his friend trotted to his side. "Ladies first." Riku teased and his brunet friend pouted, but didn't say anything as he proudly walked out of the house. It took him less than five minutes to race down to his favourite spot on the beach, while his laughing friend slowly trailed behind. "Ah." As soon as Sora plopped down at the edge of the water he wiggled his toes and looked back at Riku, who had also made himself comfortable in the sand a little ways back, and smiled at him. The simple fact that Riku was watching him caused his cheeks to heat up, for reasons unknown to him.

"You going to join me?" Sora discarded his shirt and tiptoed into the cold water while looking back at his friend who replied, "Not right now. I'm fine just watching you." Sora nodded, still blushing.

The brunet happily splashed and waded around in the water before he looked back to catch Riku unzipping his shirt and tossing it aside before he started walking towards him. _Oh man,_ Sora thought as he gazed over his friend. Riku looked...gorgeous; with his shining silver tresses hanging over his face attractively—veiling his tranquil viridian irises—and his black shorts clinging to his waist perfectly.

"W-Wanna build sandcastles?" He stuttered when his friend was close enough to be able to hear his shaky voice. Riku raised an eyebrow, but nodded with his standard gentle, lopsided grin. "If you want to."

Of course their peace was stirred up slightly, for Sora had challenged Riku to an intense castle building contest. Somewhere in the middle of their competition, Sora looked up from building his tower when he heard someone call his name. "Sora!"

The two boys turned around to see Kairi hurrying towards them, her eyes holding a bright happiness while a smile formed on her lips. "Look who's here!" She called excitedly, causing Sora to lean his head to the side and Riku moved to stand up. When the two took a step towards her, a familiar dog and duck appeared beside Kairi and paused to wave at the brunet. "Donald! Goofy!" Riku watched the brunet's eyes light up as he ran towards the two and tackled them, and they all collapsed to the ground in a messy bundle of limbs. "Guys! I've missed you both so much! How've you been?"

Donald squawked a "Let go of me!" although a smile lit his and Goofy's faces when Sora pulled back to grin down at them. "We've been doing great! Ya sure do look different Sora, and it's only been a couple of months since we left!"

Sora's eyes started to water and Riku came up to the three, smiling politely. "So, why are you here? Is the king with you also?" He asked and bowed over slightly when he was done scanning for the minature king. "The king is gone!" Donald shouted and folded his feathered arms. "Huh?" Sora turned his head to look at Riku, who had frowned, in confusion and Donald rolled his eyes. "What do you mean gone?" The brunet turned to Goofy and the knight began to explain, "Well, he left another note this time sayin' there were some things he had to check up on. But he never said where he was goin'." With a frown, Goofy folded his arms thoughtfully. "So that's why you're here?" Sora inquired as he rose up off the ground, with Riku's help. "Yep, the king's note said to come find you and bring you to Disney Castle. The queen needs to talk to ya." Goofy's extraordinarily happy voice struck an anxious cord inside of the brunet and he fidgeted.

"What? Are the worlds in danger again?" Riku's brows furrowed when he noticed the look of worry on his friend's face. "We don't know." Donald muttered and he sighed. "We don't even know where the king is!" His defeated expression caused Sora and Goofy to chuckle, but they immediately stopped at his glare.

Kairi slowly walked up to the group and smiled. "What's going on?" She asked, her violet irises scanning over everyone. "Donald and Goofy came to get me because the king is missing, and the queen needs to speak to me."

Sora tried his best to explain and felt Riku's hand rest on his shoulder a few moments after. "And I'm going with him." Riku stated, still shirtless. Which Kairi finally noticed; she also noticed the shy way in which the flustered brunet nodded and smiled at his friend. "I am too." She smiled and warily glanced at Riku, who stiffened and removed his hand.

Oh, Riku... The redhead sighed and gave the silver haired teen a urging look; however, he missed it. Was he really that dense to miss _Sora's_ reactions?

"Gawrsh Miss Kairi, I don't think that's such a good idea." After her thoughts were interrupted, Kairi looked at Goofy and he fiddled with his fingers under her confused stare. "Why not?" She asked and tilted her head to the side. "You'd just get in the way!" Donald said, and missed the glare the brunet shot at him. "Donald!" Sora yelled at the duck and he gave Kairi and apologetic smile. "What? It's the truth!" Donald yelled right back and Riku wondered if he really wanted to be stuck in a ship with these two. "What Donald means is that you haven't had much practice, and Sora and Riku would be upset if something happened to ya." Goofy explained gently and his friend's nodded. "He's right, Kai." Sora added and the redhead looked down. "But I...I just want to help, too. I don't want to be left behind!" Sora smiled at her and hugged her; the action caused Riku to flick his eyes away to the ground. Kairi didn't miss the teen's small frown and the sadness in his eyes, nor did Goofy - for he had picked that moment to glance at the silver haired teen.

"Kairi, you know we care about you! We really don't want you to get hurt. The queen needs us, so don't worry!" He declared with a reassuring smile. "We'll be back before you know it!" She quickly pulled away. "Okay. Come back soon." He smiled at her and she returned the expression. "We will." The redhead moved to Riku and lightly hugged him. "You might want to get a shirt on. You're making Sora blush," she whispered and giggled quietly after she pulled back; the action only caused Riku's eyes to widen and he furrowed his silver brows. "What?"

She simply giggled once more and walked away without answering. Riku folded his arms and met Sora's curious gaze a moment before glancing back at the redhead. What was she talking about?

"You coming, Riku?" Sora called out to his friend and watched him nod a few moments later. The two went back to Riku's house to change clothes, and the silver haired teen listened to his friend ramble on and on about how excited he was. "I can't wait!" The gleeful tone in Sora's voice made Riku happy as well and he led the brunet out to meet their friends again. "Come on, you're so slow!" Donald teased before he and Goofy brought them to their Gummi ship, where it was hidden in a remote portion of the island. "Wow. Again, it's so great to see you guys. You both look fantastic." Sora smiled at his friends, happy to see them doing well. "We sure missed you too, Sora!" Goofy smiled when he looked back at the brunet. "Hey, do you think we could maybe, stop by Radiant Garden? To see how everyone's doing?" Sora asked quickly.

"No, Sora! We have a mission to do!" Donald reminded the brunet, sticking his beak in the air. "…Can we visit on the way back?" Sora held his hands out to his sides as he asked hopefully. "I think that'd be fun!" Goofy smiled and Donald just grumbled a "Whatever." The duck waddled ahead while Riku trudged alongside Sora, still keeping his hands in his pockets. "I finally get to travel in the Gummi ship with you, Riku!" The excited way in which Sora spoke was really too adorable for words. So Riku merely smiled and leaned over to ruffle his friend's hair. "Yeah. Sure beats using energy to open portals." The silver haired teen muttered more to himself.

"I'm so excited!" Sora pumped a fist into the air and spun around with his arms outstretched and Riku dodged the limbs with a good-natured laugh slipping past his lips. "You're such a kid, Sora." Donald murmured and the brunet glared. Riku laughed, because it was true. And that was just one of the many things he loved about Sora. The brunet's happy-go-lucky personality and his pure heart were also at the top of his 'Favourite things about Sora' list.

With a pout, Sora sighed but kept an extra hop in his step as he fell into sync with Riku. "Mean..." He muttered and his lower lip stuck out and his shoulders slumped in the way that they always did when he was upset.

Did Riku mention his adorable pouting face? That was also pretty high up on his list, too.

"Okay. We're all prepared to make a trip to Disney Castle... Are you ready?" Donald and Goofy stopped just outside the gummy ship and looked back at the two. Sora inhaled and bit his lip to keep from releasing an unmanly squeal and he looked at his best friend, who nodded.

When the two animals entered the ship, Sora touched Riku's arm and beamed at him. "I'm glad you're here with me, Riku." The silver haired teen smiled warmly before climbing into the big ship and turning around with a radiant smile plastered across his handsome face. "Yeah, let's go together this time." He reached a hand out to Sora, which sparked something in the brunet's memories.

But he pushed it aside and slipped his slender hand into his best friend's warm, slightly large one.

_With Riku…this is going to be perfect._

.……………….

**End – Chapter 1–**

.……………….

* * *

:D

Chelsea loves writing about RikuxSora. Yes she does~!

But she doesn't have enough time to sit down and properly fix this story. . .

I'd actually like to rewrite it and change some things, and I'll eventually do that just…not right now. I'm having fun editing though? I hope you're having fun reading! So, please review~! Just so I know this thing isn't a big, epic fail :'D

**I don't own any of the characters. SQUARE ENIX does! (The lucky bastids.)**

* * *


	3. Getting Started

.……………….

**-Desire For All That Is Lost-**

**-Chapter 2-**

**.**……………….

* * *

_-And if we feel the silence  
Holding this all inside us  
Everything means more now than  
Words could explain-_

* * *

.....................

-0**O**0-

....................

"Sora! Sora!"

The minute the sixteen-year old brunet stepped out of the Gummi Ship, with some assistance from his silver haired friend, he was immediately greeted by two tiny chipmunks. "Sora!" They both squeaked and scurried up onto his shoulder. "Hey guys! Good to see you again!" The brunet grinned, rubbing two of his fingers on Chip's soft head, then Dale's. They happily wagged their little tails and hopped off. "The queen's been expecting you!" Chip said in his squeaky little voice and he hoped into the air out of excitement. Riku raised an eyebrow and bent down on one knee to look at the two animals, the belt-chain on his pants startled the two animals when it clinked against the ground.

"Squirrels?" He rose and eyebrow, poking Dale in his puffy cheek. "Hey! We're _chipmunks_!" The small creature exclaimed before he nipped at the teen's finger. The fact that Riku looked suprised made a small giggle escape from Sora's lips and he also crouched down. "All the residents of this world are animals, Riku. The King is a mouse, after all." Sora continued to laugh and stood up with a smirk when he saw his friend's tiny blush.

"Yeah, yeah." The silver haired teen smirked as he rose to his feet and pushed the chuckling brunet's face away with his fist, in a sort of gentle, mock-punch. "Come on! We've got to go see the queen!" Donald squawked before he hurried out of the Gummi hangar, dragging Goofy along. "See ya in the throne room, fellas!" The dog called before he was dragged away from sight. Chuckling, Sora began to walk out into the courtyard with his best friend trailing behind.

"Hey, Riku. Have you ever been here?" Sora asked and took a moment to glance around at all of the hedge statues. (They always struck the brunet as a little strange, but cool.) Riku remained silent for a few moments and then he shrugged, "Actually. I've never been outside of the castle. The king and I only talked in the library about...ways that I could help you out on your journey." Sora noticed the bit of wistfulness that slipped into his friend's voice as he thought back to the past. Was he still regretting the things he had done? But he had helped so much!

"Oh, I see. You mean like the photos and the ice cream?" Sora smiled when his friend nodded and began absentmindedly flicking and pulling at the silver chain that hung from the belt on his loose, dark jeans. "I had to help you somehow—some way that your little brain could figure out." He teased and poked his friend's forehead, and laughed when the teen's eyes crossed as he looked at his hand. "You jerk." The brunet laughed happily, and moving the finger away. "So, what do you think the queen wants us for?" The two glanced around the courtyard and then up at the sky.

The atmosphere in the castle was so peaceful... "Who knows? I'd imagine that she wants us to find the king again..." Riku returned, as he walked up to the door hidden behind one of the odd statues.

"I hope that's all." The brunet muttered when his friend opened the doors. "What? I thought you'd want to go on another adventure...See old friends, new places, maybe some new faces..." Sora smiled excitedly as his friend purposely listed off things he knew the brunet loved. "Actually, that sounds like a plan!" The teen grinned at the words, and watched his friend run to the large throne room door while shaking his head and snickering.

"Queen Minnie! We're here!" He yelled, barging into the library and smiled at the sight of the small queen. "Sora, shut up!" The grumpy duck shouted and resumed his conversation with the queen and Goofy. "Hey!" Sora glared at the duck and stomped to his side, demanding to know why he was always so irritable. Just as Riku opened the door and stepped inside the room, he briefly chuckled at the sight of Sora and Donald bickering before he glanced at the small mouse. "So, Your Majesty, what did you call us for?" He asked as he slowly walked up to her.

"You're Riku, aren't you?" He nodded and walked a bit closer to the petite queen. Her kind eyes and smile reminded him so much of the king; he owed a lot to her as well, for having caused everything that took Mickey away from her. _How can she not be mad at me...?_ "I'm grateful that you've helped the King and Sora on their journey. I'm sure they appreciated it, too." When Sora agreed and smiled proudly with a hand placed on his friend's back, Riku blushed and the Queen chuckled. "I assume that Donald and Goofy have told you about the letter we received?" She asked and the two nodded. "Okay. A good bit of it has to do with this…" The Queen moved to a corner section of the library and moved her gloved hand along the row until she found the one she was looking for.

Setting the large book on the table, she began flipping through it. "Let me see..." Her eyes scanned the pages and finally rested on the one she wanted. "Have any of you ever seen this device?" When they all shook their heads, she grabbed the paper that was folded into the book's crease and opened it to reveal a clearer picture of some sort of jewel encased in a swirling platinum spikes that looked like wings.

"It's a device that is used to draw power from hearts...It's a safer way of collecting hearts without harming the person…But we don't know any details or if there are any side effects. The King got hold of some information that told him needed to find it before a certain group did." She explained and Sora's brows furrowed, not really liking all the confusing information that was being fed to him. "Why?" Sora situated himself on the desk and began reading over the book. "Because when it captures the heart it does not turn the person into a heartless. It adds the strength of that person and their heart to the person who is receiving that strength. If the intentions are pure."

"If it steals their heart's strength, then how does it not kill them?" Riku questioned as he leaned over his friend's shoulder and glanced at the book. "If they offer their strength to the other person willingly then their strengths combine. More than one person's heart strength can be inserted into the catalyst. That is my guess." The petite queen explained softly and Sora tapped his chin thoughtfully. "But why? What is the purpose of this thing? And why are you telling us?" The brunet hugged his knees to his chest and smiled. At the cute expression, Riku chuckled and leaned against the desk and while keeping his eyes on Sora, he asked, "Does it have to do with that letter?"

"Yes. In the letter, this device is said to hold a tremendous amount of power if there are enough hearts added to it. It would be bad to let it be used for the wrong reasons…But we still do not know exactly what it is used for."

"Then...Why are we here?" Riku asked, folding his arms and walking over to lean against the wall. At his nonchalant behavior, Donald rolled his eyes and glared. "I'd like you to help the King, once more." She bowed and folded her hands over top of each other. "I'm sorry to bother you with something like this again, but I'm worried. And if the King felt the need to pursue the instruction in the letter, then it must be something important!" She lightly slammed her fist into her palm, determination written all over her face.

"So, d'you have any clues on where the King might be?" Goofy asked from his spot on the floor. "I'm sorry... He told me to call you here and tell you about this..." She held up the paper and closed her eyes a moment, "While he bought you some time." She said with a light sigh.

"Could you tell us where it is, please?" Riku asked as he moved back to the brunet's side and pointed at the picture.

"I'm afraid he didn't say. But he did mention that it may be located on one of the places you previously visited...If not, you'll most likely have to search new worlds." She gave each of them worried glances, but soon eased up at their reassuring smiles.

"Yes! That means I can visit all of my friends!" Sora clapped his hands together and linked his arm with Riku's toned one. "And this time I have my best friend with me!!" With a fond smile, Riku stared down at his best friend and the brunet beamed back at him. "Can this get any better!?" He said laughing and then turned to the petite mouse. "Queen Minnie, thanks a ton for the info! We'll check back with you if we find anymore news." Goofy and Donald bowed to her and Sora waved, while Riku smiled politely and attempted a small wave. The two teens left the castle with their arms still linked until they returned to the hangar.

"Okay. Where should we head to first?" Sora fidgeted into his seat and started pressing the controls on the Gummi ship that brought up maps and lasers and all sorts of buttons. "Well, I think we should visit Leon and the gang, to see how everyone's doin'. They might even know some stuff about them bad guys!" Goofy suggested from his seat in the back, where Donald sat across from him grumbling and complaining about losing his original spot.

"Yeah. That sounds good." He turned to look at Riku and the teen bit his lip, for he knew what was going to be asked. "Hey... Any place in particular you want to go?" Sora's smile faded a small bit when Riku sighed. "Well...The last time I was traveling the worlds, I was fighting against you... I don't think I'll exactly get a warm welcome at any world we travel to." He explained quietly.

With a small, yet understanding frown, Sora leaned just a little bit closer to his friend and forced their eyes to meet. "Riku... Hey, don't worry about it. You're my best friend! I'll explain everything, and I won't let them reject you." He promised, taking his friend's hand and giving it a gentle squeeze.

Riku shook his head and smiled warmly at Sora, loving the feel of the smaller, warmer hand over his own. "Sora... I'm glad that you wanted me to come with you." His viridian irises flickered with gratitude and he took in the brunet's profile. Those bright-blue eyes and that smile just... "Of course Riku... I'd never go anywhere without you!" The response set off a set of tiny flutters inside the silver haired teen's stomach and he hid his eyes from sight, afraid that the brunet would see just what was hidden inside them. The eyes are the windows to the heart and soul, after all.

"If you two are done being all mushy, we'd like to head for Radiant Garden." Donald muttered from his seat in the back, the grumbled statement caused Riku and Sora to cough and hide their embarrassment, though the brunet was terrible at concealing those cherry-coloured cheeks. "Sorry, sorry! Let's go!"

He threw the drive lever forward and steered the Gummi ship in the direction of the world. Things weren't as hectic with the doorways open, but perhaps there were still heartless roaming around. One never could be too careful!

Though to be honest, Riku was impressed by the way that Sora handled the ship. But he could do without all the unnecessary flips and twirls; he knew that his little brunet friend was just trying to look cool.

"I think you've destroyed my digestive system..." Riku muttered as he flopped out of the ship and grabbed at his abdomen. Sora laughed and roughly patted him on the back, when the teen's face had lost it's green shade and regained the original colour. "Don't worry, buddy! You'll get used to it eventually." When Riku looked back at Donald and Goofy, they shook their heads as if to say 'He's lying; you're pretty much screwed' and the teen groaned. Sora merely laughed again and pulled Riku in the direction of the old wizard's house.

"Merlin!" Sora called as he flung the large, wooden door open and brought himself and his friend into the house. "Sora!" The poor brunet barely had enough time to let go of his silver haired friend's arm before he was tackled and sent plummeting to the ground with a petite, raven-haired woman clinging to his neck.

"It's so good to see you, Sora!" The short-haired woman squealed as she spoke into the fabric of his shirt. The ninja was situated on top of Sora, who was lying on top of Riku in a messy heap on the floor. "Yuffie... How...have you been?" He clawed at the girls arms, gasping for air. When he was able to catch the wind that was knocked out of him, Riku glared at the energetic mass attached to Sora's neck. "Would you mind getting off him...? He can't breathe." Riku groaned and tried to remove them from his lap after he avoided impaling his eyeball on one of Sora's chocolate spikes. "Oops!" Yuffie quickly hopped off and Riku wrapped his arms protectively around Sora's waist and held him tightly. "You all right?" The silver haired teen's breath tickled the brunet's ear as he questioned him. The words came out in a tone more smooth than he had meant... But he truthfully liked having the brunet sitting in his lap and being able to hold him like this.

When the other teen's breath ghosted over his ear, Sora flushed. He knew that Riku had not meant to be _that_ close, but he didn't want to admit that he liked it—the way Riku's hands securely held his middle and how Riku's chest felt against his back. They fit together so perfectly.

And it felt...so _right_.

"Y-Yeah! It's just Yuffie. Nothing to worry about!" The brunet hurried out of Riku's lap when he felt the teen's arms finally retract from his middle. "All right..." Riku nodded, but the way that the brunet had quickly scampered away from his hold had caused a twinge of pain to bubble up inside of his chest. "Sora, it's great to see you." The teen watched as a quiet brunette with braided hair stepped forward and hugged Sora. "Well, well, well! You ain't changed a bit." The blonde man called from the large computer at the back of the room, thoughtfully running a hand over the light stubble on his chin.

"Hiya Cid! Where's Leon and Cloud? And Merlin?" Goofy stepped up behind Sora after he questioned the blonde man. "Well, Blondie disappeared when you guys defeated the MCP in Tron's world...Merlin is getting ready to go out to look for more magical spells. And Leon..." Yuffie stopped with a sigh and hopped on the inclined table.

"Leon hasn't been himself since Cloud vanished... He spends most of his time at the castle's chapel and studies for hours upon hours—whether he's at the libraries or on the main computer." Aerith finished for the black-haired ninja.

"What? Why? He's not blaming himself for not being able to help Cloud, is he?" Aerith shook her head but was impressed on how close the brunet's guess actually was. "I think it's a little different, Sora." She folded her thin arms slowly and Yuffie giggled to herself quietly. "What do you mean?" Donald asked, although he wasn't really paying close attention before. "Well, Leon just wonders what happened. And I think he misses Cloud." Aerith spoke a bit softer than normal with a small smile on her face.

"I do too... Cloud helped me hold onto my light." Sora sighed and Riku looked at him with questioning eyes. What did he mean by that? And who was this _Cloud _person, anyway?

"So, why the sudden visit? What are you guys in town for!?" Yuffie asked bouncing off the table and placing her hands on her hips. "Oh yeah! The king has gone off to look for a mysterious group that is after uh, _this_." The brunet pulled the paper the queen had given them out of his pocket and dangled it for them to see. "We don't know the name of it…Do you guys know anything about it?" Sora looked at all of them but they all shook their heads after a moment of studying the object.

"If anyone knows about that thing there, it'd be Leon." Cid sniffled and quickly ran his thumb over his nose before turning back to the computer and typing furiously. "Okay, where is this Leon person?" Riku asked and immediately after he spoke, Yuffie and Aerith seemed to notice his existence for the first time. "Ooh, Sora! Who's this guy?" The raven-haired ninja asked as she moved to circle around the teen, her eyes bright and her smile wide. "He's a cutie!" She laughed when Riku folded his arms and focused his eyes on the floor, obviously mortified. "Thanks, I guess…" The teen muttered and his brunet friend laughed brightly.

"This is my best friend, Riku! You remember, right? He finally gets to visit the worlds with me!" The brunet said, a familiar lilt in his voice as he slung an arm around the taller male. "Wow, aren't you lucky! My names Yuffie! That's Aerith." She pointed at the brunet woman and then stuck her hand out for him to shake. "Riku... Nice to meet you." After he introduced himself, Yuffie leaned up on her tiptoes to inspect his face closer, missing the way the teen tried to look away. "Sora, you should've brought him with you on your first journey! I wouldn't have minded!" The ninja laughed, completely forgetting the reasons for Sora's first adventure, and shook his hand enthusiastically. At Yuffies's words, the silver haired teen's eyes narrowed in shame when a flood of memories came rushing back to him and he slowly dropped his hand from hers. Sora noticed this and wrapped his arms around his friend's toned bicep, avoiding the teen's irises when they flicked to him. _Riku...just how much guilt do you still feel over the past...?_

"So where can we find Leon?" The brunet chuckled uneasily and waited for someone to answer his question.

"Geez; One track mind." Yuffie muttered with a small laugh and placed one hand on her hip and the other on Aerith's shoulder. "Squally should be moping around the church...If he's not there, then try the computer room." Yuffie glanced at Riku once more, finally catching his clouded over gaze, before forcing a smile at Sora. Had she said something wrong? _Maybe he doesn't like to be teased like that_.

The ninja's eyes widened when the brunet smiled up at his friend and muttered something to him. It wasn't the action that surprised her; it was the look in the silver haired teen's eyes as he stared at his friend. Those viridian irises were filled with so much longing that it almost made her wonder if Sora noticed it too.

She smiled to herself when the brunet looked back at her. "Thanks a ton, Yuffie! We'll see you guys later!" Sora released his friend's bicep so that he could wave and lead his group out of the small house. "Tell Squallykins we say hi! And tell him to get some fresh air once in a while!" Yuffie called before the brunet shut the door and he chuckled. He tucked away the little nickname to use against the older brunet if he ever needed to. "I guess we'll stay here, Donald. Let's go have a look around town! A lot has happened since we've been here!" Goofy suggested as Donald looked after Sora and his friend when they walked off on their own.

Looking around the newly constructed town, Donald smiled softly and nodded. "Yeah, it has."

.……………….

-0**O**0-

.……………….

The two teens walked towards the castle, idly talking to each other to keep from lapsing into an award silence.

"Oh man, it was great to see those guys again." Sora beamed and shuffled his arms behind his head as he trotted forward. "They seem nice enough." Riku murmured and took a step closer to Sora, with his hands in his pockets. "Yeah. I hope Leon can tell us something about the thing in the picture..." The brunet bit his lip when he spotted the church in the distance. His brows furrowed as he stared at the myriads of different parts and he subtly glanced over at his friend, wondering what he was feeling as he looked ahead.

Feeling the brunet's eyes on him, the silver haired teen coughed lightly and hesitantly met his friend's gaze. "Who is this guy that we're looking for?" Riku asked curiously, trying to avoid staring the large, absrtact structure for too long—it hadn't really changed much from the last time he saw it. "Leon? He's a good friend who helped me fight a lot of battles here... He's also responsible for working to restore the town like this. It'll be nice to see him again." Riku only grunted in response as they walked up to the large doors of the castle. "Do you remember where the church is?" Riku scanned the area he had once memorized by heart. _I remember where everthing is, Sora. I tried to kill you here..._

"We have to take some steps and an elevator thing. It's not too far." Sora replied and Riku nodded, knowing all too well where they had to go and how to get there. A soft sigh blew past his lips when he followed the brunet up a long row of stairs. Before long, they reached a big floating elevator and then stepped on it, trying to avoid touching the bright blue rays around it. "This place brings back memories..."

Riku nodded and touched the gold banister on the elevator. _Though,_ _not all of them are pleasant._ "This is where I tried to..." He stopped and fixed his narrowed eyes to the ground after the elevator had passed the large foyer. "Riku... I've told you before. I forgive you. I'll always forgive you. You did that to save Kairi...How could I stay mad at you for that?" Sora said placing a hand on Riku's shoulder and the teen's eyes slipped shut.

_No…that's not why, Sora._

"I don't deserve you forgiveness..." Riku said quietly, but the brunet still heard him and gave a confused glance to the other male. "What do you mean?" Sora asked and the other teen opened his eyes but did not meet his friend's cerulean pair. He simply shook his head slightly as the open-elevator reached its stop. "Nevermind." Riku stepped off of the platform and headed through the long, decaying hallway. "Riku, wait up!" Sora ran towards his silver haired friend, but stopped as a group of Shadow and Soldier heartless appeared in front of him. "Ah!?" He quickly beckoned his keyblade and slashed through one that jumped at him.

"Sora!" When he heard the sounds, Riku turned around and also summoned his blade as he ran towards his friend, slicing through the Soldier that had flung itself towards Sora. The two quickly disposed of the enemies and made their way to the chapel doors. "Are you hurt?" Riku asked, inhaling deeply before he checked over his friend's profile. He was covered in a few tiny scratches, but the blood running down his slender fingers caught Riku's attention. There was probably a large gash under the glove.

"Yep, I'm fine. Woo, If we're going to be fighting like this again I'm glad we had a bit of practice!" The brunet patted himself on the chest, unaware of the crimson liquid staining his hand, and put on a smile. "Sora..." Riku sighed and grabbed his best friend's hand. It took him a few moments to carefully rip the corner of his black, sleeveless shirt enough to make a bandage, take Sora's glove off, and wrap the cloth around the wound. "Riku! You didn't have to ruin your shirt!" The brunet withdrew his bandaged hand quickly and frowned. "No, it's fine. I don't want it to get infected and become a bother to you." Sora followed Riku with his eyes as the teen moved to the doors and placed a hand on it. "Oh... Thank you." Sora returned quietly and Riku nodded with a small smile.

"So Leon's in here, huh?" Riku looked back at his friend once before knocking his fist against the door. Sora nodded and Riku pushed open the door only to be knocked back by a Dark Ball. "Riku!" Sora ran to his friend's side and helped him up. "I'm all right." The teen groaned and shook his head to stop the room from spinning.

As soon as Riku got to his feet, another Dark Ball swiftly sailed passed them and crashed into a nearby wall before vanishing. Shortly after that, a tall gunblade-wielding brunet ran out through the large doors and glanced around while trying to catch his breath before he rested his eyes on Sora and Riku.

"Sora!" He ran over to the shorter brunet, a completely confused expression on his scarred face. "Why are you here?" The man's ears perked up and a growl escaped his throat as he pointed his weapon behind him and shot the Heartless before it could attack and then finally rested his gunblade in the ground. "We have some questions to ask you. It's good to see you again Leon!" The brunet explained lightly and placed a hand on his hip.

"I knew you'd eventually come to visit." The taller male smirked and threw an arm around Sora's shoulder. "Who is this?" Leon glanced over the silver haired teen and his eyes widened, "He looks like Sephiroth." The scarred brunet gripped his blade tighter and glared at the other teen. "W-Wait! This is my best friend, Riku! He's here to help!" The brunet shimmied out from the older male's grasp and stood protectively in front of his best friend. "Oh, I see…" Leon replied hesitantly and the silver haired teen took a step back. _Well, I'd better get used to those kinds of reactions…_

Sora looked back at Riku once before he turned to Leon and placed a hand over his chest. "You don't have to worry about him, I trust him with my life!" The brunet's reply eased some of the tension inside of Leon, but it seemed to cause something else to stir inside of Riku. "So what's up, Leon? Aerith said that you were all mopey?" Leon frowned at the brunet's words and he set his blade against the wall. "I've been...thinking." He muttered and folded his arms until the shorter brunet touched his bicep. "About Cloud?"

"...Yes." At his confession, Sora nodded and decided to walk down the church isle and look around. The older brunet followed him closely, while Riku frowned and lingered a few feet behind the two.

"Cloud just…disappeared. No one's heard from him or Sephiroth since. That's one more person I couldn't save..." The male said, glaring off into the distance.

Sora sighed and touched Leon's arm again, "You know, you don't have to do everything yourself!" The key bearer chuckled and lightly punched the older male's arm, "And it's not your fault Cloud vanished." Riku stepped up beside his friend and forced a smile. "You don't know that he died for certain...But, we didn't come here to get you to stop brooding." He said quietly, looking at his brunet friend - a light of recognition appearing his cerulean eyes after Riku spoke.

"Oh yeah! Hey Leon, have you heard of this...Heart...thingy?" Sora trailed off weakly and looked at Riku, who raised an eyebrow and then laughed. "He means this thing." Riku snaked his hand into Sora's loose pocket, making the teen blush, and he pulled the paper out to hand to Leon. "Er, yeah, that." The flustered brunet scratched the back of his head and chuckled while Riku ruffled his hair affectionately.

After watching the two, Leon smirked to himself, but focused on the paper. He soon folded his arms and closed his eyes. _That jewel…I've seen it before somewhere… _"Hmm. It looks familiar. Merlin might know something about it. He travels the worlds, after all... Ask him. He's probably hovering somewhere around the bailey." Leon rubbed his temples and ran a hand through his layered hair. "It's a pain in the ass that the Heartless are back…" Leon muttered as the three walked out of the chapel.

Sora nodded and sighed. _How_ were they back anyway? "This time I don't think I can seal the keyholes... We'll have to find another way to keep the worlds safe." Without thinking, he sighed again before he took hold of Riku's hand. "Anyway, thanks for the info Leon. We'll go check with Merlin!" The brunet waved with his free hand and tugged his new friend back to the castle's entrance.

--

"Oi! Merlin!"

The brunet shouted when he spotted the magician walking towards them. "Sora! I thought I felt your presence. Good to see you, my boy." He smiled at the two and the brunet nodded. "Eh, who is this young man?" The wizard pointed a lanky finger at Riku and his brows furrowed. "He looks an awful lot like..."

"Sephiroth. Yeah, I get it..." Riku mumbled and Sora touched his arm softly. "I'm Riku. Sora's best friend." The wizard smiled at the proud way with which the teen spoke and he nodded. "Oh, I see. So you've got something to ask me, my boy?" He questioned and turned towards Sora. "Yeah. There's this thing," Sora dug into his pocket and pulled out the paper. Internally he groaned; it was going to be a pain to keep having to pull this thing out... "The king asked us to help him find it... But we don't know where it is or exactly how it works. We don't even know what it's called." The wizard nodded sagely when the brunet finished, running his hand through his long beard. "I'm afraid I don't know very much about it. Except that I've seen it in an old book a good amount of time ago. It was hidden somewhere in one of the worlds. That's all I know." Merlin explained while Sora bit his lip, but nodded and thanked the magician with a smile.

Sora stuffed the paper back into his pocket with a sigh and glanced at his best friend. "I wonder what those guys who sent the letter want to use it for."

When Riku shrugged, Sora tilted his head to the side and watched the teen search for a response. "I'd imagine they're after the same thing that Ansem and Xemnas were after... Maybe even something more." The silver haired teen folded his arms and gritted his teeth. Bringing up Ansem's name always made him angry. It seemed like it was destined for that Heartless's alias to be involved with everything - especially when Riku himself was involved. "Well, I was just on my way to the bailey. If you want, I could do more research on it for you lads in my spare time." The old man offered as he started to walk off. "Thanks, Merlin!" Sora called with a wave as the wizard turned around. "Be safe, you two!" The magician returned, and Sora smiled.

"At least we know its probably close..." Sora smiled and bit back a yawn as the two headed for Merlin's house. Riku caught the way his friend began to sway lightly and he stopped. "Are you tired, Sora?" Riku watched his friend finally yawn and scratch his head sleepily. "A bit. But I'm fine! Don't you worry about a thing! I can stay up for hours!" The brunet reassured his friend, but the silver haired teen would have none of it. "Sora. I'm not going to let you drive that ship until you're fully rested." Riku grinned and slipped his hand into his friend's and pulled him towards the magician's house. "I'll find you a place to stay, since it's getting late." Riku felt his friend begin to slow down and he yawned again, highly resembling a kitten. The way his cerulean eyes began to droop and his head bowed made Riku chuckled and clutch his hand tighter. His hands were so soft and warm...

"We should tell Donald and Goofy." Sora muttered to his friend when the two watched the comfy little home fall into view. "I wonder what they've been doing."

Riku walked up to the front of the house and opened the door for Sora, who smiled at him and began to thank him until he felt the familiar shape of Donald's staff collide with the back of his head. "Ow! Hey! What was that for?" The brunet rubbed the back of his head and pouted, a bit of liquid filing his cerulean eyes.

Donald put away his wand, though he still looked annoyed. "For taking so long! We need to leave now!" Riku glowered at the duck and Goofy spoke up quickly, "You know how impatient Donald is! But ya didn't have to hit him y'know." He whispered the last part, turning to the duck who was having a glaring contest with Riku. "What's your problem?" Donald asked the older teen when his scowl did not lighten. "Hmph." The silver haired teen snorted and folded his arms. He turned his gaze to his friend who was giving the two worried glances.

"Riku thinks that we should find someplace to stay for the night. I think it's a good idea, what about you guys?" Sora asked looking at Donald, then Goofy, who nodded and then winced when duck beside him glared even more. "But we need to get moving! The king is waiting!" He shouted and tapped his foot impatiently. "Well, we need the rest. Besides, there are still heartless around. It's been a while since we've fought anything." Riku made a good point and Donald could think of no excuse to refuse so he simply folded his arms.

Goofy put a hand on Donald's shoulder. "I think that it's a good idea, Donald. We should save up our strength if we're going to be fighting the Heartless." Donald gave his friends a defeated look and gave in. "Fine."

Sora tilted his head to the side and he scooted closer to Goofy. "So you guys ran into the Heartless, too?" When the animals nodded, Sora glanced back to his silver haired friend and folded his arms. "I guess we really do need to rest, then?" At Riku's nod, Sora smiled and returned to his side.

"Why don't we ask yer friends if they have a place to stay?" Goofy suggested and Sora nodded in agreement. "That's a good idea. They all have homes around here so it wouldn't be a far walk from the ship."

"That sounds good." Riku agreed with a smile and Goofy nodded as well, looking at his comrade who was still rather peeved. "Come on Donald, cheer up!" Goofy said optimistically. "Yeah, yeah..." Donald said walking into the home.

"Hey Sora! Back so soon?" Riku sighed when he heard the petite woman's enthusiastic voice. Although he didn't have anything against her, she was just too much like Selphie… "Yep! We talked to Leon. He didn't really know anything, but he said he'd look for us." The brunet smiled and walked up to the ninja. "Oh, bummer. But at least it's a start, right?" Her raven hair bounced as she laughed and the brunet nodded. "Uh, Yuffie." The brunet went into super-pout mode and Riku had to look away from the ultimate cuteness radiating from his friend. He even heard the woman swallow loudly as she fought to keep her eyes on Sora's. "Riku, Goofy, Donald, and I sort of need a place to stay for the night—" The ninja placed a finger to his lips and smiled. "Say no more! I have plenty of room in my house!"

"Really?" Yuffie smiled and threw an arm over the brunet's shoulder. "Of course!" The ninja smiled and released her friend in order to strut to the door, laughing. "I mean, if you all don't mind sharing a bed, then its fine."

Noticing the discomfort coming from Donald, Aerith chuckled and offered him and Goofy a spare room in her home. "Thank ya very much!" Goofy smiled and Aerith bowed politely. "You're welcome."

With their plans for the night taken care of, Sora pointed to the door and grinned.

"All right, then! Let's go!"

--

"Ahh." Sora smiled as he plopped down on the bed's bright-yellow comforter. "So fluffy." Riku grinned and took a seat on the edge of the mattress while he watched his friend get comfortable. "You better enjoy that while you can. We won't be sleeping on beds like this for a while." The silver haired teen crawled up next to his friend and rolled onto his back, folding his arms behind his head.

Sora took the opportunity to lightly hit Riku with a pillow and chuckle. "I know! I'm just so excited that we get to explore the worlds again. And we can go to even more places that last time!" Sora made a mental note to thank the raven-haired ninja (who promised to give them privacy) in the morning, before he swiftly kicked off his shoes and jacket. Riku followed suit and sat up. "I just hope nothing bad happens..." Riku muttered quietly to himself. He hadn't completely forgotten about the nightmares.

They were real. He was _sure_ of it. Could the shadow in his dreams be related to the letter the king received?

"What do you mean?" Sora tilted his head curiously while Riku grabbed the pillow he'd been abused with and threw it at his friend, who laughed and dodged it. "Nothing; I know how you feel. But, we should probably get some rest. I'm getting kind of tired." Riku yawned and watched Sora slide under the covers.

When the brunet snuggled further into the mattress, he let out a content sigh and sought out his friend's eyes. "I'm so happy." Riku slid on the other side of the bed and met those cerulean irises in return. "Hn? What for?" Sora's lashes fluttered shut and Riku watched his pink lips part as he spoke, "That I have such amazing friends. And that I get to travel with my _best_ friend. Do I need any other reason?" He smiled cutely and Riku felt his heart ache as he struggled to bite back the urge to embrace his friend tightly.

"I see. Thank you."

"Dummy, why are you thanking me?" The brunet laughed lightly, a bit of fatigue slipping into the sound. Riku could see that he was falling asleep. His viridian eyes followed the brunet's movement as he scooted closer to his side and smiled. That simple expression...had always been able to stop his heart. "For being you," Riku chuckled at the brunet's tired, confused face and poked his cute little nose. "Oh, then I should thank you, too!" Sora yawned again and Riku propped himself up with an elbow. "Let me guess; for being me?" The silver haired teen asked with an amused tone.

"You caught me," The brunet chuckled and met Riku's unique, viridian irises once more before his own cerulean pair fluttered shut. "I don't think I'd be able to go through all this...without you." Sora sought out Riku's hand and he hesitantly laced their fingers together. "You don't know how much you mean to me. If something ever happened to you…" Riku brushed Sora's hair out of his face and smiled, knowing that he wasn't going to finish that sentence.

"Goodnight...Riku..." Sora slowly released his friend's hand and rolled over, snoring softly. Riku chuckled and shook his head. "Goodnight Sora." Riku also turned onto his side, but made sure that their backs were touching.

It didn't take long for the teen to follow his friend into a comfortable slumber.

..……………..

-0**O**0-

..……………..

The morning went by rather smoothly. Well, almost.

Sora had awoken to find that Riku had taken him into his arms at some point in the night. Thanks to that little action, the brunet had a hard time looking at his friend without blushing and imagining those strong arms holding him tightly.

But despite that, Riku was just happy he hadn't had one of those nightmares. Two was enough, thank you.

"Again, thanks for your help, Yuffie." The brunet grinned at the female when she trotted to him. "No problem! But next time you stop by for a visit, Riku's sleeping in my room." She teased and slyly elbowed the brunet in his side. "Wh-Wha?" The teen sputtered and brought his hands up to conceal the sides of his cherry-coloured cheeks and Riku stopped listening to Cid's persistent rambling a moment to glance at his friend, wondering why the boy was blushing.

"We'll let you know if we hear anything about Cloud or Sephiroth." Sora smiled and placed a hand on Leon's shoulder when the older male appeared beside him. "You let us know, too. If Cloud comes back..." Leon's lips twitched upward at Sora and he nodded. "Right. I'll do that, and I'll research as much as possible on that drawing. You can count on me." Sora smiled and gazed up into Leon's eyes gratefully. "Thanks, Leon. And try not to do everything by yourself, okay?"

Sora gave the older brunet a concerned look. The poor guy looked like he hadn't gotten any sleep at all...Or at least, that's what the faint purple spots under his eyes implied. "Yeah, you've got brave, smart, and incredibly talented comrades!" The ninja exclaimed and tapped on her chest. "And a girl who lounges around in this house all day." Leon added quietly, but was unable to hold back a smile at the ninja's annoyed, "I resent that!" (She couldn't stand being called lazy!)

"Come back and see us when you get the chance." Aerith folded her hands behind her back and graced Sora with her peaceful smile. He nodded and was tackled into a vicious hug by Yuffie. "We'll miss you!" She squeezed him tightly and pretended to sob into his chest. "Ahaha…" Sora hugged her back and awkwardly patted her head when she refused to release her death grip on his waist.

"I think we should go." Riku tried to pry the raven-haired women from his best friend, but she wouldn't budge. "Don't worry. We'll come back to visit soon!" Goofy smiled and waved before following Donald to the Gummi ship. "Hurry up!" The duck called a few moments after he realized they weren't outside yet.

"Yuffie, we'll be back!" The brunet reassured the petite ninja and she pulled back to smile up at him. _Now, for a test._

Yuffie smiled inwardly and quickly pecked Sora on the cheek and then slyly glance back at the silver haired teen. _Bingo_. The look on Riku's face was priceless, but was only seen a moment before it was quickly hidden. He was jealous all right. The way his viridian irises darkened said it all.

"Yuffie!" The brunet coughed, covering up his nervousness with a chuckle and shake of his head. "You didn't have to do that, Yuffie." He wiped the damp spot where her lips had been and she grinned. "I know, I know, but you're just so cute! Right, Riku!?" The silver haired teen winced and decided to give a hesitant nod. "He's adorable." Deciding to tease him, the silver haired teen grinned and ruffled his friend's hair. "Riku!" With a sigh, the brunet blushed and hurried to the door. "We should hurry! Donald's probably left without us! Bye, everyone!" Once the brunet ducked out of sight, Yuffie crept up to Riku's side and stopped him a moment.

"You should probably tell him how you feel." She smiled up at him and his posture stiffened the slightest bit. "What are you talk—"

"Nothing." _Fine, play dumb. _The ninja rolled her eyes but smiled and pushed him out of the door. "Go. Your best friend is waiting!"

Riku glanced back at her a moment and slowly flashed a smile in her direction. "Thanks." He finally sprinted towards his friend's distant form after she nodded and waved.

Sora stopped just outside the Gummi ship to wait for his friend and gave the teen a shy smile when he finally hurried to his side. "So, where to?" He asked as he climbed into the ship and took his seat. "Well, we obviously should start at one of the worlds we've been to." Donald's remark came from the back and Sora nodded. "Any suggestions?" Sora brought up the overhead map and scrutinized it. "Hmm. Why don't we go see Tarzan? I sure miss him and Jane." The dog suggested and Sora happily agreed with him. "Tarzan?" Riku raised an eyebrow and looked at the map. "He's a friend. He was...Well, raised by apes." Sora pointed to Tarzan's world on the map and grinned. "If he was raised by apes how can you communicate with him?"

Sora giggled at his friend's confusion and patted his platinum hair. "Well, he's not the only human there. As Goofy said, there's Jane and her father, who have been teaching him to communicate." He was happily pushing buttons on the Gummi ships panels. "Oh, I see." Riku stared at his friend and his breath caught in his throat when the brunet caught him staring and flashed him a radiant smile.

"...Sora."

He couldn't believe he was traveling with _Sora_. That the brunet not only **forgave** him, but wanted him to be there adventuring at his side. The silver haired teen bit down the words he had wanted so desperately to confess and instead smiled and ruffled the younger's hair. "Hey!" Sora chuckled and batted him away. "Let's go. This should be interesting." Riku sat back in his seat as his friend nodded and set the ship in motion.

"Yeah!" Sora smiled at his companions and set a course for their jungle friend's world.

It was just one of the many places he would get to travel with the ones he cared about most.

Nothing could make him happier.

..…………………..

**End – Chapter 2 – **

..…………………..

* * *

Yay.

Iz a tired panda.

But I still finished this and I like the way I edited it. I don't think I have a name for the group or the jewel thingy either, but I'll work on that so it doesn't sound stupid.

Anyway, I'll try and keep these end notes short so you don't need to listen to me ramble on and on and on and on and—you get the point :)

*Spelling errors are to be blamed on my laziness* Oh, and review plz~!

**Disclaimer**: DONT OWN IT!! DON'T SUE ME!! :D


	4. Won't be Easy

.……………….

**-Desire For All That Is Lost-**

**-Chapter 3-**

.……………….

* * *

_-Coming down the world turned over  
And angels fall without you there  
And I go on as you get colder  
Or are you someone's prayer-_

* * *

.……………….

-0**O**0-

.……………….

The forest that the silver haired teen's friends were leading him through was gorgeous.

"So, where is this Tarzan guy?" He asked and dodged the branch Sora had let go after he moved past it, and continued to take in his surroundings.

Sora smiled and slowed down to walk with Riku. "He should be at the campsite, which is just up ahead. Only a little bit farther past the bamboo forest we're coming to." Sora smiled as he looked around at the water and the trees. Sure brought back memories—though, there weren't as many hippos around this time.

Now they were here again to find their friend, and hopefully not...run into any heartless. The thought of seeing the heartless annoyed and confused the brunet. Why were they back? They should have vanished when they defeated Xemnas! Maybe it had something to do with the group who sent the letter. But if that were true, they'd get attack on the routes to the worlds, and they had yet to use the Gummi ships lasers.

"Sora, look! There's Jane!" Sora snapped out of his reverie as they stepped into the clearing to see the woman hanging and fluffing her laundry on the clothesline. Donald and Goofy quickly approached her while Sora smiled and mentioned for Riku to follow.

"Sora! Donald, Goofy!" She happily smiled and hurried to the small group. "Hiya!" The brunet exchanged greetings until Jane finally noticed the other teen. "Oh, and who's this?" She asked staring at the silver haired teen. He smiled and offered a hand. "I'm Riku." Sora smiled when they shook hands. He was happy that Jane welcomed him with such a friendly grin. "He's my best friend!" Sora's smile brightened and he latched onto the older teen's arm. Jane laughed and nodded, "How lovely! You two seem awfully close!" She folded her hands and smiled, the expression softening when she noticed the gentle way the silver haired teen stared at his friend. "Of course!" Sora wrapped his arms around Riku and the silver haired teen stared at his younger friend a moment before flicking his liquid irises to the side. The teen comfortably wrapped his strong arms around Sora's shoulder and the brunet laughed as he rested his head on his friend's chest. Jane noticed the emotion in Riku's viridian orbs change, and a thoughtful expression lit her face.

"Sora, we did not come here for you to cuddle with your best friend!" Donald called to him and the brunet pulled out of his friend's arms with a small twinge of pink lighting his cheeks. "Oh right. Hey Jane, is Tarzan around?"

The brunet glanced around and bit his lip when he did not see his jungle friend. "I'm afraid you just missed him. He said something about going to the tree house; Tarzan has been going there often." She grabbed the clothesbasket and looked at the bamboo forest. "He should still be there if you still want to see him!"

Sora nodded and smiled. "Thanks Jane." He waved to her and she smiled. "Glad I could be of some help." She did a small curtsey, making Sora chuckle, before walking away to slip into the tent.

--

"Okay, so we're going to a tree house to find your Tarzan friend?" Riku asked and his friend slowly nodded. "Yeah, it's located in the treetops. Really high up..." Surprisingly enough, the brunet did not like extreme heights. Especially heights that harbored a bunch of pointy tree branches and rocks at the bottom, just waiting to _catch_ you if you fell. "All right. I think we should split up in case he takes a different route or something." Riku suggested, looking at the two paths. They all nodded and decided the groups. "Of course, I go with Riku." Sora said and Riku nodded with a smile, "I'm fine with that."

"Fine. We'll look at the waterfall just in case, and then stay in this area. Just find Tarzan and bring him back here. Be careful everyone!" Donald started walking and his companion waved goodbye to the two teens before he sprinted after his friend. "Hey Donald, wait for me!" The knight called and quickly ran to the magician's side.

"Well, it's just us now! Ready to go?" Riku looked at the treetops and then back to his friend. _This is going to be a long and tough journey_—the silver haired teen sighed before he looked ahead at his cheerful friend; his eyes softened when the brunet glanced back and waved to him.

_But it's definitely worth it._

.……………….

-0**O**0-

.……………….

Riku looked up through the trees then down to the ground. "This is _so_ safe." He muttered sarcastically before he glanced over his shoulder at Sora.

The brunet simply grinned and hopped over a stray branch. They were now walking along the trees and occasional treetops because Riku couldn't quite grasp the concept of swinging on vines... "It is only if you're careful. Tarzan slides through these trees like he's on a skateboard. Maybe he'll show you. It's actually really fun!" Riku hesitantly tugged on a large group of vines before he used them as a shortcut to hop onto a higher platform, and then he lowered his hand for Sora to take.

"So, you met Tarzan after you came here?" Riku asked and tightened his grip on the brunet's hand as he hauled him up. "Yep! He's nice guy who helped me find Donald and Goofy when we got separated. There's this really cool thing he does—he sort of glides across vines and trees." Riku nodded, still finding the idea of swinging through trees a little unusual; but then again, the man _was_ raised by apes.

He wondered why he had never searched this world. He might've met up with Sora before...

"Watch your step." Riku advised, holding Sora's arm and pulling him back slightly. He smiled at Sora and pointed to a hole that was blended in with the vines.

A look of pure relief inhabited the brunt's face and he wiped his forehead. "Thanks. I really wouldn't want to fall through there. Good thing I have my amazing, super-observant buddy here with me." He admitted and smiled back at the silver haired teen who turned his head abruptly, not wanting Sora to see the faint blush located on his cheeks. "No problem…" He wedged his hands in his baggy jeans pockets before stepping over some more branches.

"The tree house is where I ended up crashing when I first visited this world." Sora started with a chuckle and Riku watched his friend hesitantly place his foot on a part of the tree to test its durability.

"Crashing?" Riku arched a slender eyebrow and his friend coughed.

"…Donald and I had a fight and we accidently hit some buttons and the ship crashed. That's how we were separated." Riku smirked at the thought, because really, he could see the two doing that. "Way to go." He teased and waited for the brunet to pout, but he giggled instead. "I ended up meeting Tarzan and having a vision of Kairi in that place..." Sora's eyes rested on the sky and Riku frowned after his friend spoke. So he'd only had a vision of her? Why?

"I guess it was because I held her heart. And I had gotten so sidetracked that I searched for Donald and Goofy before you guys. Even though I missed you both more." Riku closed his eyes and listened to his friend talk, miraculously not tripping over any stray twigs or vines.

At that time, it had been painful knowing that Kairi had replaced him in Sora's heart so easily. Sora was _his_ best friend first, and all the bitterness and jealousy led to an unfortunate chain of events. It had all been _Riku's_ fault. He felt so stupid for letting something so ridiculous tear him up. After seeing the drawings in the cave, he sadly came to the realization that his growing feelings would have to cease or it would become excruciatingly painful. He felt an unbearable amount of guilt for sending the worlds into chaos...and even more for making the brunet correct his mistake.

However, after revealing himself to Sora...the brunet had clung to him for dear life and he had even cried. And it felt amazing to be at his side.

But even now it was painful. The fact that Sora had forgiven him so easily when he didn't even deserve it ate at him and tormented him. He felt he needed to properly gain back his trust and their friendship—which Sora had told him was never really lost. He was amazed at the kindness and forgiveness that Sora held. He _needed_ to do something to make it up to the brunet. Sora was just too good for him…

"Riku?" Sora noticed his friend being extremely quiet and he moved a bit closer to the teen's side. "You okay?"

"Yeah." Thinking about the past always made his head and his heart ache. Sometimes it was better to just stop. He needed to leave behind those thoughts so that he could move on and _not_ make the same mistake.

When the brunet had made it halfway up on the small ivory that was spiraling up around to a ledge, he lost his grip on the vine and it broke sending him down into Riku's waiting arms. "Sora!" The brunet slowly opened his eyes to stare directly into Riku's worried pair. "A-Ah," Sora collapsed in his friend's arms and Riku chuckled before blowing out a sigh. "That was almost bad." The silver haired teen kept the brunet in his arms a few more moments until he realized he was staring again. "Thanks, Riku." Sora smiled and tried to steady his breathing—a result of falling and also being cradled in his friend's arms. He had to stop putting himself into such awkward situations!

But he did like having Riku hold him; the protective way in which he did so stirred something inside the brunet that made him want to hug the teen.

"So, we're almost there?" Riku asked hopefully and set the brunet down so they could search for another way to the ledge.

"We actually have to climb a few more vines and trees." He muttered and Riku dropped his head to the side. "But don't worry! We can take our time!"

_Too much energy_.

Sora had begun to eagerly hop through the trees and Riku watched him with a fond smile until he stopped and an unexpected shiver shot through his body. Something was wrong; he could sense it. And he just couldn't shake the foreboding feeling of danger. With another glance around, Riku sighed and shrugged. It never hurt to be too cautious, but he desperately hoped that it was his imagination.

He quickly caught up with his friend and they continued their search.

.……………….

-0**O**0-

.……………….

"Gosh, we've come up so high... How and why did they build a tree house this far up?" Sora muttered wiping his forehead and his best friend shrugged. "Possibly to stay away from all of the wild animals?"

He smirked at his younger friend and stopped moving when he heard a loud crack. His eyes narrowed when a familiar scent drifted into his nose and he stiffened, the hairs on the back of his neck standing on edge. _Darkness_. He knew it's disgusting odor all too well.

The teen listened as the sound became louder and more frequent. Just as he lifted his hand and opened his mouth to caution his friend, he caught the motion of myriads of broken tree pieces starting to fall from above and his eyes widened. "Sora!" The silver haired teen panicked and forced his feet to carry him towards his best friend and quickly pinned the brunet to another tree, safe and out of the collapsing branches' path.

Riku smashed his hands into the tree's bark, protecting Sora's body with his own, as the huge branches fell around them and then a long ways to the ground below. It took the brunet several moments to catch his breath—being almost killed by trees was normally startling—and then he looked up to Riku's face, which was scrunched up in pain. Sora's brows furrowed when his friend slipped a viridian eye open and smiled warily. "You okay?" Riku asked, slowly opening the other eye to scan over Sora's body for any injuries. The brunet simply nodded and put his hand on Riku's chest; the silver haired teen still had his hands pushing up against the tree and was hovering over Sora. "Are you-" The teen stopped when he saw a trickle of blood run down Riku's arm. "Riku!" Said teen hesitated before he brought his arm down to inspect it. As expected, the pale limb was covered with scratches. "It's okay. I'm fine." Sora looked up with fear-filled eyes and his friend shrugged lightly. "Riku, look at your arm!" The brunet took his friend's arm and watched him wince before his lips parted and he spoke, "It's better than seeing you hurt..."

There was so much blood despite the size of the small abrasions… Riku was injured and Sora wasn't in the slightest bit.

When his friend remained quiet, Riku shook his head—a moment later he felt dizzy, but decided to play it off. His silver locks swayed with the motion when shook his head again before he glanced at his shorter friend.

After he saw those few drops of water rolling down the brunet's cheeks, his eyes widened. "Sora!?" Riku moved his hand quickly to Sora's face and pulled him closer. "What's the matter? Are you hurt!?" Sora shook his head slightly and blinked to clear. "No, but _you_ are... You protected me and got hurt instead." Sora sniffled. He was slightly embarrassed as to why he was being so overly emotional. But that didn't stop the brunet from looking up to his friend with large, tear-filled eyes.

Riku smiled and pulled Sora close so that his arms wound around his waist in a tight embrace. "It's fine. It actually doesn't hurt all that bad." Sora reached his hands around to hug Riku and stopped when he felt a damp spot on the back of the teen's shirt. "Huh?" Sora swiftly detached himself from Riku, who staggered a little, and he swiveled around the silver haired teen.

"Riku!" Sora gasped when he looked at his friend and then down at his now-bloodstained hands. "Y-Your back!" The silver haired teen tried to turn but a sharp pain shot up his sides and around to his back. His shirt was ripped and there was a very large gash on his lower back and a good bit of his shirt was ripped and covered in blood.

"Riku!" Sora looked fearfully at Riku when the teen cried out again as he tried to move._ So that's why I'm feeling so dizzy..._

"It's okay." Riku breathed in heavily and managed to reassure his friend with a small murmur, though he missed his friend's disbelieving expression. The brunet grabbed his friend's biceps and pressed his lips together tightly. Why was he saying that, it was clearly _not _okay!

"Riku! You're not okay! It's all my fault!" The silver haired teen smiled and ruffled Sora's hair as his viridian irises softened. "It's alright as long as I was able to protect you. Believe me, that's all that matters." The silver haired teen coughed and grabbed his side as he fell down to one knee. "R-Riku!" Sora crouched down next to his friend and touched his shoulder. "I'm taking you back to the camp site! I'm sure Jane will help you recover! Gah, I wish I hadn't forgotten that healing spell!" The brunet seized his friend's arm and threw it over his shoulder. Hoisting the teen up and struggled to move him forward. (Riku was so much larger…)

"No...You need to find your friend. We're already close, so don't worry about me!" Sora huffed and turned his head away. "No. I won't. You're more important right now!" Riku stared at the ground and bit his lip. "Sorry." Sora stared at him when the teen closed his eyes. What was wrong with him? No cocky attitude? No jokes?

"Riku...is something bothering you?" Sora walked a little faster and tried to find the path with the least obstacles so he could hurry to get Riku healed faster. It was going to take a while to get back…

"No. Nothing..." The teen lied, scrunching his face up when the piercing ache returned. "Sorry, I'll hurry!" Riku nodded and smiled at Sora, who hesitantly returned the expression. _Why does Riku look so sad?_

The brunet said nothing as he hastily carried Riku back to the camp.

--

Something was bothering Riku...

Trees of that size would not fall the way they did. At least, not in such abnormally large amounts... The dark scent that had been present set him off as well. He'd have to be more careful.

As soon as the two returned to the camp, Riku fainted—making Sora scream his name. The moment Jane heard the outburst; she hurried out of the tent and to the brunet's side. "Sora? What's the matter?" She gasped when she saw him huddled over his friend's unconscious form. "R-Riku! He-!" Jane nodded and helped Sora carry Riku into the tent and they gently placed him in the bed. "Is there anything you can do?"

With a nod, Jane grabbed one of Sora's hands and squeezed it lightly. "Of course, Sora. Let's see how bad his wounds are." She slowly rolled the silver haired teen onto his stomach and her brows knitted. "Oh dear." She started to fully remove his shirt, and Sora closed his eyes after noticing the large gash that started a few inches below his friend's shoulder blades and ran down to where his studded belt rested. "Riku..." Jane noticed Sora's distressed expression and she inhaled deeply before she turned to him. "Don't worry Sora. I'll have him fixed up in a jiffy!" She raised a fist with a determined look on her face and smiled before she rummaged around for her medical supplies.

Sora helped Jane clean and disinfect the abrasions on Riku's body before they wrapped his lower back, chest, and left arm (the other only held minor injuries) in heavy gauze. "How long will it take to recover?"Sora asked when they were finished. The woman tapped her lips in thought as she looked at Riku. "I'd say about almost a month if he doesn't do any risky activity, sorry..." She smiled and patted his head.

"You boys make sure to keep yourselves away from trouble." She said wagging a finger at him, then headed for the tent's exit. Sora looked after her retreating form with a smile. "Thank you, Jane." He spoke kindly and the woman chuckled. "I'm not sure what I would've done without your help."

"You're very welcome, Sora. Stay here as long as you like. Oh, hang on for a moment, I'll be right back." With a quick wave, she left Sora alone with his best friend.

After he inhaled deeply, the brunet slowly eased himself on the bed next to his friend and his eyes closed a moment before he leaned closer. "Riku... What's happening to you?" The teen moved Riku's bangs aside and as he did, his breath hitched.

Riku had obviously matured over the years; his features had developed, giving him a great aesthetic quality... In other words he was very, _very_ handsome.

The small, warm flutter inside his chest alerted him and his hand moved up to clutch the fabric of his shirt above his heart. _This feeling...What is it?_

He wanted to hold Riku...to have Riku hug him and never let go. He knew just how much he needed him after they reunited in the World That Never Was. He had been so thankful—so much more relieved to see Riku than Kairi, and it was hard for him to understand at first...it was still difficult to wrap his brain around, even now!

"Riku... I can't bear to see you like this..." Sora spoke sincerely to Riku, although the male could not hear him, and he placed his forehead on the teen's chest. He could hear his heart...

_With this heart...Riku loves and cares so much for the people close to him. But, he also suffers and keeps his pain to himself..._

When the silver haired teen began to stir, Sora touched his chest and pulled back to hover close to his face. "Riku?" The brunet tapped the silver haired teen, but he did not wake up. He simply continued to groan louder and his face twisted into expressions that Sora could only identify as torment and anguish. "Riku? Riku, wake up!" Sora grabbed his friend's shoulders and shook him, fearfully gazing over his best friend when he didn't open his eyes. "Riku!" He shook the teen more firmly and began to panic.

The brunet's heart throbbed painfully until he shot to his feet and fumbled out of the tent to find Jane.

* * *

"_Hello again, Riku."_

_"What do you want from me?" Riku shouted, slicing at the enemy who had been assaulting him. The laughter was still as startling and cruel as when he first heard it._

_"I want the key, not _you_." It said and once again took form as the being that resembled Riku. "What the hell are you?" Riku asked before he sent a sphere of dark aura flying towards the enemy. "The key worries about your pathetic existence. If I injure you, I injure him." The teen's brows furrowed when the replica chose not to answer his question._

_Why..._

_Why?_

_"Why do you want to harm Sora? I want answers!" Riku ran forward only to be blocked by a force field, which flickered brightly when he crashed into it and he staggered back to the ground a few feet away. "I never said anything about harming him; in fact, I won't harm a hair on his pretty little head!" The way the replica laughed irked him beyond belief and his fists tightened but the figure raised a hand. "I just need his light." Simple... But not what he was looking for. "Why?"_

_The visible red eye glowed bright as it stared at Riku and then the other being ran a hand through the light gray locks of his hair. "To gather strength for us..." The figure shot at Riku and he deflected its blow with his blade._

_"There's no way you're taking Sora's light." He slashed at the replica and it quickly backed away._

_"Why do you care? You are in love with someone who can never return that emotion. Why don't you just give up?" The figure said slashing at Riku and it took the teen several more dodges and strikes before he hit the shadow with full force and sent it backwards. "I don't want Sora to suffer because of me... He shouldn't have to be put through anymore pain when he has already had to bear so much...I've already caused enough trouble for him..." Riku knew this would end soon and he knew it was the only place where he could just let go and allow the sadness tear at his heart._

_"He wouldn't grieve over you! No one would! You're not worth the—"_

_"As long as we're best friends, Sora still worries about me—just as I worry about him. Even if we weren't friends Sora would worry about me. He's just that type of person."_

_Riku said with a soft smile that slowly faded. "And I betrayed him... How could I have been so stupid?" The silver haired teen clutched his forehead, giving his enemy an opening._

_The shadow leapt at Riku and grabbed him by the collar. "There is no room for you in the keyblade master's heart. Face it! You never mattered to him or anyone else on that pathetic little island. The key has people more important than you close to his heart." Riku tried to breathe. It was just too hard. Too painful. _

_Even if the things he said weren't true... What if somehow they were? In a sense they held a certain reality. The brunet does have everyone else; those who didn't betray his trust. That's who the small brunet really needed. Someone to hold him and keep him safe from danger, even if he can do that himself. How badly Riku wanted to hold the keyblade master in his arms—just that feeling of that small lithe body against his, their hearts beating together, would always be enough for him._

_It was almost unbearable to hold back from uttering those phrases of pure devotion and love to him, and passionately kiss those velvet lips. But wanting more than friendship (which he really didn't deserve) was something that Riku knew he couldn't even ask for. The silver haired teen's own feelings were no longer the only thing that mattered to him._

_"I just want him to be happy..." Riku hung his head, feeling the pain and agony grip his heart tightly and the replica sneered at his downturned head. "You won't have to worry about if he's happy or sad once I get my hands on him. If you even live long enough to see that..." _

_The darkness was invading Riku's vision and he once again was forced back and stabbed in the chest by the horrid clone. "I can't wait to do this outside of these ridiculous dreams." Riku was slowly fading out of consciousness._

_Why does it have to be this way?_

_Sora…_

* * *

"Riku!"

At the frantic voice that called his name, the silver haired teen slowly opened his eyes.

Everything was blurry, but he could make out three figures hovering over and calling out to him. _I had another nightmare_, the teen thought and groaned before his snapped his eyes shut once more. "Riku! Please wake up!"

_Wait, that sounds like_... The moment the voice registered in his head, Riku sat up and instantly regretted the action. "Sora." He felt a hand rub soothingly over his shoulder as he clutched his aching head.

"Riku, thank goodness!" The brunet said as he threw his slender arms around his friend's bare shoulders and squeezed him tightly. "Sora?" After he took a moment to hesitate, Riku slipped his newly bandaged arm down around his friend's lithe waist.

"Riku, you had us worried! You kept screaming and thrashing around—I thought you weren't going to wake up!" The brunet bit his lip because he had chosen to leave out the part where Riku had been screaming and calling out his name. "I just...had a nightmare." After Sora had pulled back, Riku looked down at his hands and they balled into a fist. "Sorry to have worried you."

Sora smiled and moved a stray lock of hair out of his friend's face. "Don't worry about it. But really, there's something bothering you, isn't there? Is it really the nightmare?" The brunet moved his head so he could see Riku's face. His cerulean eyes locked onto his friend's expression, finding that it was somewhat sad and bitter. "It's...nothing." He lied, making Sora stare at him suspiciously. "Riku, please, I'm your best friend. You know that whatever upsets you upsets me!" The silver haired teen shook his head when he felt the brunet place a soft hand on his shoulder. "No Sora, I don't want you to have these negative feelings. I know it's too much for me to ask you to smile all the time, but at least let me help you fight away _your_ pain." Riku's viridian irises flashed with an emotion deeper than Sora had ever seen in them and the teen placed a cool hand on the brunet's cheek. "I don't deserve you're pity."

Sora's eyes widened and he jumped back, startling everyone in the room. "It's not pity! I care for you Riku! Can't you see that I don't want you to be sad either!" The brunet's brows furrowed and he ignored the way his fingers trembled and he continued, "And don't you even start going on about forgiveness! I told you that I forgave you and I always will! You are my _best _friend!"

Riku took a moment to get over his initial surprise and lowered his head with a sigh. "Thank you for your concern, Sora." Through his bangs he could see that the little brunet was folding his arms and trying to catch his breath with a small pout on his face.

He sat up a bit straighter when Jane offered him some type of soup, while her father smiled and moved to the tent's exit. "You be sure and get some rest now, my boy. Take care!" The old man's kind words made Riku smile slightly and he nodded, watching Jane's father chuckle as he left the tent to explore and do more research.

"Here you go. You've got to keep up your strength and energy! It's nothing fancy, but it should at least fill your stomach." Jane patted the teen's shoulder before she gave Sora a quick, sympathetic look. He was obviously upset by his friend hiding his suffering.

"Sora, you need to make sure Riku takes these potions every night. Will you?" She handed him a ton of small bottles with bright green liquid in them. "They'll keep up his energy. For the most part, it's a pain killer." Sora nodded and accepted the items with gratitude written on his face, and he shoved them into his big pockets.

"Ouch." The brunet glanced at his friend, who was having some trouble eating because of the cuts on his hand and because it hurt him to sit up for a long time. Sora chuckled, despite the pain he knew it must've caused the teen. (But he just looked so cute with that hopelessly determined look on his face!)

"Dummy. You'll tire yourself out like that." Sora smiled and Riku looked away from the fond expression while his friend walked over and sat down on the bed. "Here, I'll do it!" Sora smiled warmly, the expression made Riku's heart skip a beat and he inhaled. "Thanks. Sorry for the trouble." Sora sighed and lifted the spoon to Riku's lips. The silver haired teen tilted his head to the side when he noticed the small flush on his friend's cheeks. "Say 'Aah'!" The brunet held the spoon and cooed as if he were talking to a child. Riku simply rolled his eyes, but was unable to hold back a smile before his lips closed around the spoon and he kept his eyes on the brunet.

After feeding Riku, Sora attempted to rid his cheeks of their bright red colour before he helped Jane change his bandages. It had been a little difficult to try and keep calm, what with Riku's eyes on him the whole time he helped the teen eat… Why were those liquid, sea-green irises studying him so intently!?

And because he was too caught up in his thoughts, Sora didn't even realize that Jane had moved beside him until she spoke up, "Okay; before you leave, I'll give you extra gauze. Make sure to change the bandages twice every day."

Riku, with the help of Sora, got off the bed. "So are you leaving?" Jane asked and watched the brunet nod. "After we see Tarzan. We've got to visit other worlds and check up on everything." Sora turned to Riku and smiled when the teen rose up from the bed and walked over to Sora. "You look better!" He said cheerfully. "Yeah, I feel better. The potions are working." Riku's lips tugged upward into his usual—genuine—half smile/smirk and he chuckled softly as he ruffled the younger male's wild spikes. "Thanks, Sor."

Sora smiled back at him. _That's my Riku! _

"Of course. Now, I think we should get moving."

"Your other friends should have found Tarzan by now. Oh, and you can take one of the shirts off the clothes line for Riku. Some of them should fit." The woman smiled and lifted up the little cloth hanging over the exit and held it open. "Please, try not to do anything too dangerous now..." Jane warned them as Sora nodded and helped Riku out of the tent.

"I'm really sorry, Sora..." The silver haired teen muttered as he leaned on the younger male. His brows furrowed when he felt the tight grip on his heart return. He hated nothing more than feeling self-conscious and depressed, but he needed Sora to know that he was sorry. Did he sound pathetic and desperate to the brunet?

"This is going to hold you back. You should just go on without me. Donald and Goofy can still help you."

Sora shook his head and sent his friend a serious look. "No. I want _you_ to be by my side. You're not a problem at all, believe me. You couldn't help it that you got injured, and if anything, it's my fault. You did it to protect me..."

"Sora... Don't take the blame; I did it of my own free will. I had to protect you." Riku stood up taller and moved in front of Sora. "These wounds just mean that I was able to save you from harm...And that I need to grow stronger. If you had gotten hurt..." He moved his hand over the bandage over his arm as he spoke and he looked into his friend's eyes when the brunet placed his own slender hand over Riku's larger one. "Please, don't overexert yourself. I need you by my side, Riku." Those words caused Riku to close his eyes again. If Sora continued to be this sweet and affectionate, he was going to have a more difficult time trying to contain his longing. "Thank you for your concern...I think we should find your friend. Maybe after we're done here, we can have Merlin see if he can speed up the healing process so I won't be as much of a burden."

The brunet boy rolled his cerulean orbs and after the motion, they rested on his friend's face. "You're not a burden...! And I guess I should try to remember that healing spell." The brunet scratched the back of his head and Riku waited for the teen to turn back towards him so he could wrap his arms around the brunet's shoulders. "Thanks, Sora... I'm sorry for the way I've been acting. I was thinking about some things and I couldn't shake some old feelings."

Sora fidgeted and waited for Riku's eyes to meet his own. "Don't worry about it. But if you want, you can always talk to me about it." Sora spoke while returning the hug. For some reason his cheeks flared up again and he was glad he was able to bury his face into Riku's chest. They _had_ been hugging each other a lot...

Riku smiled and slowly pulled away. "Yeah. I know I can."

Sora looked at his friend, who cleared his throat and turned around. "I guess we should wait for Donald and Goofy..." Riku looked around the camp while Sora guiltily ran his eyes over the silver haired teen's bandaged lower torso.

"Yeah but... We should probably get you another shirt first." Sora glanced at Riku's bare, bandaged chest and the teen chuckled lightly. "I guess we should. But I think it would help in fighting the heartless, no? One look at this body and they'd be paralyzed—we'd have the upper hand." He grinned when he earned a delighted chuckle from his best friend. "You're so full of yourself!" _But, I'm glad._

Sora pushed Riku's shoulder and they erupted into a fit of chuckles.

Shortly after arriving here, Riku had become quiet and reserved. But looking at him now—being his usual self—you'd never guess. It was weird, but Sora pushed the thought to the back of his mind and replaced it with the joy of having his friend happy again.

"Hey Riku..." Sora hopped on the boxed that were stacked near the tent. "What's up?" Riku carefully leaned on the pole next to the boxes and glanced back at his friend. "About the nightmares..." He noticed the way Riku flinched when he brought up the topic and he chewed on his lower lip. "It's nothing really. It's sort of one of those reoccurring things, maybe I can get someone to check into it." He shrugged and looked away from the brunet. He didn't want Sora to worry over something like this, and especially if it involved him.

"I see. But what's exactly happening that makes you so scared?" His clear cerulean eyes searched Riku's viridian ones, and the silver haired teen couldn't help but tell the truth. "...There's this shadow that—" He started to talk but stopped as he heard two familiar shouts.

"Sora, we found 'im! Tarzan's here!" Sora looked up to see his friend's running towards them. "Huh?" Sora smiled immediately as he noticed the dark haired man following them from behind. He looked back to his friend once, wanting him to finish, but the teen motioned to the others with a smile so the brunet decided to save the question for later.

"Tarzan!" He hopped off the boxes and rushed to his friends. "It's good to see you!" He smiled and mentioned for Riku to come over.

"It's good to see you, Sora." The ape-man smiled and looked up at Riku from his typical hunched position. Riku awkwardly stared at the other and nodded. (Sora _could_ have mentioned that the man would be in nothing but a loincloth...) "Who is this?" Tarzan walked to Riku and cautiously touched his hair and backed up slightly from his standing position. Riku fidgeted from the awkwardness and Sora chuckled.

"Is he a heartless?" Tarzan's brows furrowed and he sent a hostile look to the silver haired teen. "No, I'm not a heartless!" Riku shouted and Sora put a hand on his shoulder. "Tarzan this is my friend Riku, he's not an enemy." Sora reassured and smiled at Riku, who calmed down a bit. "But, his hair is so oddly colored..." Tarzan looked at Riku's unimpressed expression and decided to drop the subject. "Is there some other reason that you've come here?" Sora nodded and beamed down at the man. He was impressed with how much Tarzan had improved in speaking since they'd last seen him.

Riku—ignoring the hair comment—also nodded and stepped closer to his friend. "We need to know if you've seen this object before. It's a jewel that can be used to hold hearts." He folded his arms and waited for the brunet to reveal the paper and show it to the ape-man.

Tarzan frowned and shook his head after carefully looking over the drawing. "Nothing like that is around here...Sorry, Sora." The brunet nodded with a frown and they all sighed. "Well, this was a waste of time." Donald sighed and Goofy winced. "No it wasn't. We got to see Tarzan and Jane again! That's good enough." Sora pouted and looked at his friends.

Goofy smiled and was fiddling with his shirt when he noticed that Riku's usual attire was replaced by several bandages, "Gawrsh Riku, what happened to ya!?" The dog's voice was laced with concern and Donald also looked at the teen. Riku stared at the dog and then his wounds. "I was careless. It's nothing serious, so I should be okay." He explained quietly and was well aware of the look the brunet was giving him.

"Riku..." Riku shook his head and reassuringly placed a hand on Sora's shoulder. "I'm fine, believe me. I told you before; as long as you're safe from harm I'll be fine." He smiled down at the brunet. "Riku..."

How could he be able to risk _everything_ to protect one person from simply getting injured? Of course, Sora was willing to do the same, but… _Riku's so strong_…

"All right, but please tell me if anything hurts." Sora gazed at Riku's covered abdomen and frowned, "Got it? It's the same for me. So don't hide your pain."

Although Donald was the smarter of the two, it was Goofy who understood the situation in front of them quite well. It was really heartwarming to see how much they cared for each other; they'd do anything for one another.

"Hold still." Donald ordered and Riku arched a delicate eyebrow as the duck lifted his wand heavenward and a bright, green light enveloped his body. "Sora, have you forgot how to heal already?" The duck looked at the brunet reproachfully, but there was a hint of amusement underneath the expression. Although the majority of the injuries began to close up, Riku was still going to feel some aches and pains from them, especially on his back. "Thanks Donald." Riku and Sora both sent a grateful look to the duck, who merely smiled in return.

Tarzan looked at the group before smiling. "It was really great to see all of you. When do you have to leave?" He asked and Sora looked at his comrades for a few moments. "We should leave as soon as possible. We still have to look for the king and that jewel thing." There were still so many worlds to visit; that thought alone made Sora smile as excitement bubbled up inside of him. "If we do find it, we may need your help so watch out for us, okay?" Riku calmly looked at the ape-man.

Tarzan nodded and smiled. "I'll tell Jane you're leaving." Sora smiled and watched Tarzan quickly hoist himself into a tree. "We'll meet again. I hope you find what you're looking for." And with those words and a smile, he was gone.

With a whistle, Riku watched the man swing through the vines before landing on a tree to slide out of sight. _He really does slide around up there…_

"I guess we should leave, too." Goofy pointed in the direction of their ship. "I wonder just how far away this thing is...I can't wait to travel the worlds!" Riku watched the brunet fidget and nibble on his lip. He never was good a containing his excitement. And it was adorable.

He turned and started to walk backwards so that he could face Riku as he spoke to him. "There are so many things I want to show you! It's so great!" He continued to walk and talk until they reached their vessel. "Maybe we should plan out which worlds we want to visit beforehand." Riku opened the ship's door and headed inside after everyone. "We could just go to the worlds nearest to us. That way we won't skip any. So, the closest one to us now is..."

"The Beast's Castle?" Goofy pointed to the world map one they were inside and smiled. "All right!" Sora clenched his fist and smiled, looking at his friend with his excitement present in his clear irises. "It'll be good to see Bell and the Beast again. I wonder how they're doing." His thoughts wandered to the glowing rose and he tapped the arm of his seat.

"I'm sure they are doin' fine!" Goofy reassured as they all got comfortable in their seats as Sora launched the ship into the sky.

"Sora...about the Beast..." Riku started, guiltily, and Sora knew the look along with what he was thinking. "Riku, don't worry about it! I'll explain what happened and everything will be fine." The silver haired teen looked at his friend and offered a smile, but he still felt a small twinge of nervousness. He had fought the beast before and took Belle from him...

He reclined in his chair and tried to focus on something other than the path ahead of them. They were most likely going to revisit the worlds. _All_ of them. And he'd made a handful of enemies back when he was on the Maleficent's side. "Y'know. I think they will forgive you in time, so don't be upset. I forgave you after all. And you hurt me the most!" Sora exclaimed and completely missed Riku's slight twitch. Sora was obviously unaware of what he said and was only trying to help, but something inside of Riku clenched as the brunet said those words._ But you hurt me the most..._

That was exactly the opposite of what he wanted. "Sora...I—" Sora shook his head and rose a finger to silence his friend. "Don't. Don't apologize." He gave his friend a big smile. Riku's eyes quivered as he looked away. "You're too nice for your own good." He muttered under his breath, but loud enough for the brunet to hear.

Sora chuckled and looked back at the pathway. "We're should be getting there soon!" Riku's knuckled turned white as he gripped the armrest of chair when he saw the world draw near. His insides twisted as they prepared to land.

_I hope this goes well..._

He closed his eyes and prepared for the worst.

.……………….

**End – Chapter 3 – **

.……………….

* * *

Ha-ha… *snicker* Bad place to end it, but that's okay :B I'm lazy. And it was...awkward to have to make up dialect for Tarzan. I mean, I know he can talk and everything but for some reason, I just got stuck and couldn't think of anything to make him...less boring. Sorry!! But I still love Tarzan, so it's okay~

I totally used the whole "Falling trees" part from the Tarzan movie. Except that it was Riku and Sora, and our favourite silver haired teen got a booboo D:

But Sora will kiss it and make it better :D

Sora: *Smoooooch* :)  
Riku: :D

Awwh.

No, **I DO NOT OWN** these two fabulous creatures, nor do I own any other character form Kingdom Hearts 1 and 2. Those lucky people from **SQUARE-ENIX** own them. (Seriously, are they still called that?) And the opening quote is from my favourite song in the whole world: _Black Balloon_ by the _Goo Goo Dolls_.

There are probably some stupid errors, and if you spot them please tell me! Please review~!


	5. Can We Start Again?

**Desire For All That Is Lost**

~**Chapter** **4**~

* * *

_~ Please don't let me fall forever –_

_Can you tell me it's over now? ~_

* * *

**-+--+--+--+--+--+-**

**~O~**

**-+--+--+--+--+--+-**

"I want you to talk to me, Riku."

The command was quiet and gentle.

However, it was enough to make the named teen looked up from the ship's buttons he'd been so aptly studying to gaze into his friend's eyes.

"Er… What?"

Blinking confusedly was all the poor silveret could do. Though, when Sora sighed and turned his head in his best friend's direction, he gave the other a pleading look as he asked, "Will you tell me about those nightmares you've been having? If I can, I want to be able to help you." Riku inhaled slightly, still kind of shocked that his friend had so boldly commanded him something. How long had the boy been studying him anyway?

The brunet didn't look too thrilled to realize that his friend was hiding something from him. But even if he was upset, Riku didn't want to involve Sora… Not if the nightmares were going to worry him even more.

Sora noticed the way that Riku had looked down at his hands and seemed to hesitate. Sighing, the brunet shifted in his seat so he was somewhat facing the other male. "Um, Riku… You _can_ tell me, you know. You trust me, right?"

Caught off guard by this question, Riku tilted his head to the side slightly and averted his eyes for a brief moment before making sure that Sora could see the sincerity in them as their gazes locked.

"Of course, Sora. You know that I trust you," he paused a moment so that his tone was soft as he added, "More than anyone."

The brunet hadn't heard the last part, for the reason that it was practically whispered, so he leaned closer to his friend and decided to take his hand. Although similar actions had been made, the feeling of the brunet's warm skin resting upon his own felt different this time—it felt compassionate, reassuring. (Because only _Sora_ would be able to convey something so profound with a simple touch.)

"And I feel the same… So I want to be able to help any way that I can. If those nightmares are causing you to lose sleep, it could be a big problem for us in battle!"

Riku looked down at their intertwined hands and stroked the brunet's tan, slender one lightly with his thumb. "I've thought about that. But really, I hardly ever slept before, so it shouldn't be that much of a difference. It's not that big a deal." Riku's eyes continued to dance around the vessel without ever making contact with Sora's. The brunet found that this little action bothered him, so he sighed and released Riku's hands to return his own to the controls.

If Riku wanted to be evasive, fine.

"Sorry…" Riku whispered after he turned his head away. He felt the vibes of exasperation all but radiating from Sora and he winced; it wasn't his intention to irritate his friend—the teen wanted that to at least be known. There wasn't much that aggravated Sora, but Riku'd be damned if he wasn't unlucky enough to find _some_ exception…

"Sora, I—"

"There it is!" The brunet effectively cut him off with a happy shout and he pointed to the screen enthusiastically; clearly he was excited. And whether or not he was just eager enough to stop anything Riku had to say…it still worked and the silver haired teen remained silent.

Riku hesitantly removed his eyes from Sora's face to glance at the screen. Unsurprisingly, his stomach twisted when he saw the large world spinning in their ship monitor's view. Much to his dismay, they were rapidly approaching it and would be landing shortly—or that's what he gathered from Sora's fast babbling.

'_Is he…_that_ mad at me?_' Riku thought in surprise as he caught sight of Sora's tense movements. His viridian irises looked over at his best friend and watched him expertly click around on the keys and buttons in front of him. Once their eyes met, Sora quickly looked away and nonchalantly pushed the accelerator forward without as much as one prominent or defining emotion on his face.

'_He's _that_ mad…_' At the confirmation, Riku's thoughts dived deeper into the gloomy disposition in which he was headed and he merely leaned back in his seat. It was unbelievable how he could even darken things—things that weren't even _corporeal_, for_ fuck's sake_—such as a happy atmosphere. Was that no more than a sign that he should've stayed in the darkness?

He could only hope that it wasn't.

"Sora, pay attention!"

Riku turned towards the sound of the duck's voice and once he looked back at the screen, he felt the ship begin to decelerate towards the ground. Sora glanced over in his direction nervously, but once the brunet was caught staring he looked away and his shoulders slumped.

"So—"

"Okay, guys! Once the ship's landing gear gives the signal we can get out. Though I didn't really pay attention to where we'll be landing—heh. Sorry, but we're probably somewhere outside the castle." Sora tapped his cheek and smiled that sheepish smile Riku had always liked seeing on his face. Without even looking at the screen, Riku rose out of his seat once he heard the ship's landing alert, and waited near the ship's exit with a frown on his face. '_I just want to get this world out of the way…'_ He thought bitterly. After that particular notion made itself present however, Riku bit his lip and ran a hand through his hair. He'd been working on the whole 'less negative, more positive' thing for his friend and he'd pretty much screwed it up a few seconds ago. (Though he might've done that a long time ago without even realizing it.)

'_I suck…' _The silver haired teen ignored the looks he felt he was getting from Sora's friends and he slowly folded his arms as he leaned against the wall. The teen was about ready to shove his face in a blender, quite simply because he had promised himself never to anger his friend like he just did. And he broke that promise, like so many others he made before… Those promises were once his driving force. One—out of many—in particular being made with a certain brunet flashed through his mind:

"_Let's promise to always have each other's backs! If we ever run into a monster, we'll take it down together! Right, Riku?"_

"_Yeah, of course!"_

"_All right! Let's make a promise. Let's promise to always be friends! Never en…en-enemies! (Wakka taught me that word!)" _

_  
"That's a dumb thing to promise, since I _know _we'll be friends forever…but, okay. I promise!"_

Riku replayed the memories of his childhood over in his head and his brows furrowed. Unfortunately, he was able to remember almost every single promise he had made to the brunet since they were young—only breaking the most important one in a moment of weakness. Oh, the guilt… It was like a curse.

'_I was weak…because I wanted him. I was angered that he could be happy without me,' _Riku glanced over the seat and saw his friend still moving around and poking at the ship's controls. How childish Riku had been… He was so glad that he had changed for the better. If he had missed out on this—this journey they were now embarked on together as a group—well, Riku didn't even want to imagine where he'd be instead.

"We'll be landing reeeally soon. All right everyone, make sure we've got everything and we'll head out!" Sora's surprisingly cheerful voice drifted back to where the other occupants of the ship were and they all harbored smiles on their faces. This meant that Riku immediately forgot about making the other angry as soon as he saw that bright grin.

"Thank God for short attention spans…" Riku muttered softly to himself with a tiny chuckle.

The Gummi Ship's frame shook as its landing gear implanted into the ground. Goofy, with a good-natured 'a'hyuck,' said something to the chipmunk that had popped up on the main screen, and then helped his other comrades gather their supplies.

Riku jolted slightly as he watched Sora walk up to him and tilt his head to the side. The moment their gazes locked, they didn't waver or stray until a good five minutes had passed. And as Riku opened his mouth to speak, Donald cleared his throat loudly and looked at the taller teen expectantly. Breaking the stare, Riku gave a 'What?' to the duck and then realized that he was still blocking the exit. He stepped aside with a small apology and the hatch opened moments later. Because he was still glancing Sora instead of where he was going, Riku stepped down and while he expected firm land, he actually slipped and fell flat on his ass into something unexpectedly _cold_ and _wet_.

In fact, too cold and wet and white to be a simple, normal puddle.

"S-Snow!?" Riku shouted, obviously baffled, and as Sora glanced out of their vessel his eyes widened and a large grin took over his own surprised features. He himself had actually been too busy worrying about Riku to have paid attention to the actual details of the land. The rest of the ride had had him focusing more on why he thought Riku was mad at him—the lack of conversation wasn't very reassuring—and he lost focus on everything but his silver haired friend. But this worked out better than he thought it would, because the face Riku was making was absolutely priceless.

Priceless enough for Sora to wish he had a camera. But since he didn't, he mentally stored the other boy's expression away in his brain. (Under the archive so aptly named 'Riku's rare and utterly hilarious facial reactions that are important enough to even have an archive') But anyway, getting back to the other male's reaction…

Riku's brows had been raised at different heights and his mouth hung open a little wider than Sora had seen it do so in a while, making him look quite humorous. His pale hand had a chunk of snow trapped within it and he was staring at the white fluff in disbelief as if he had never seen it before in his life.

Sora hardly contained his laughter as he hopped out of the ship and stood next to his downed friend. "Looks like you're not as graceful as you let on," he chuckled and offered a hand to the silver haired teen. Riku's eyes stayed on the offered limb and Sora's smile only increased as he watched the fallen teen gape up at him.

"What?"

Riku took the hand despite his bewilderment and let his friend struggle to help him to his feet. "What do you mean, '_what'_? Heh, you looked surprised by my generous act of kindness," Sora lightly elbowed his friend in the side as he spoke. Riku was clearly taken aback by this behavior and he bent down closer to his friend so he could ask, "You're not mad at me anymore?"

Sora's brows creased at Riku's incredulous question and he shifted his weight to one foot as he stared at his friend in confusion. "I was never 'mad' at you, Riku. A little upset with myself, but… Weren't you angry with me?" Sora asked with a shrug of his shoulders and Goofy looked back and forth between the two with a smile.

"It seemed like the two of you were havin' a fight. It was real quiet on the way here…" Goofy poked his fingers together and lowered his head, but still made eye contact with both teens—that looked at each other moments later.

"I…" They both started simultaneously and then stopped. Riku took a step closer to his younger friend and looked into his cerulean orbs, frowning in shame. He felt horrid for not even realizing that his friend was worrying over his actions. Sora was upset and he hadn't even bothered to ask why, he just assumed. That made him feel pretty shitty, honestly. "I was a jerk. And I'm sorry for keeping things from you when you're just trying to help—"

"No Riku, I'm sorry! I shouldn't force you to tell me stuff when it obviously hurts you!"

"Sora, listen to me. You don't have to apologize…!"

"And neither do you."

Donald and Goofy watched the small exchange, the latter with a small smile on his face, and then they glanced at each other. "It's like they're a couple making up after their first fight," Donald muttered as he idly tapped his weapon against the ground. Goofy brought his hands to his mouth in order to cover up a chuckle, but nodded just the same. "Could you two just make up already? We're never going to find the King if you just stand around like that," Donald shivered slightly and refrained from tapping his foot against the cold ground; "My feet are freezing!"

With a new blush lighting his cheeks—something he would readily blame on the cold—Sora smiled and looked away from Riku to Donald. The poor duck looked as if he were ready to turn to ice; the tips of his beak were already a pale, bluish colour. "Sorry, sorry! I bet you're wishing you could wear shoes now, right?" Sora teased with a cheeky smile as he bounded over towards his animal friends, patting them on the shoulders as he turned them around.

Riku shook his head and was unable to restrain a smile as he finally took in their familiar surroundings – the large gates and that even larger castle now layered with snow that seemed to reflect the sunlight perfectly. Somehow he had learned to expect as much when visiting the Beast and Belle's home since it was such brilliant world; he hadn't gotten the time to fully appreciate the scenery when he had traveled here before... Though, now that he thought about the two, a wave of panic hit him when the idea of revealing himself to the couple popped up. And since Sora had picked that particular moment to glance back at his friend, his cerulean eyes clouded over with worry when he saw Riku clutching his abdomen as if he were in pain.

"Riku…?" Just as Sora turned to take a step towards his friend, the tall gates in front of them burst open. After turning back around in surprise, Sora saw the familiar tall and furry creature lurch forward from beyond the tall entrance—those wild eyes fierce and attentive. just like he had remembered them. "Beast!" Sora called out happily and raised a hand to greet said…beast. Riku just watched with a sinking stomach as the aforementioned animal choked slightly and kept up his astonished demeanor.

"Sora…?" The burly creature rose onto two feet and a small smile broke over his face. "The castle guards told me that a strange ship had landed just outside the castle. I'm glad…but surprised to see you all—" The Beast immediately stopped midsentence when his dark eyes fell upon Riku. It was clear the he recognized the silver haired teen, even after a year, because the look in his eyes had changed from overjoyed to angry within seconds. Now because Riku had expected some form of hostility from the animal, he summoned his Way to the Dawn—which really only made things worse.

"Sora! Look out!" Beast shoved the brunet aside roughly and lunged for the silver haired teen.

"No wait! You've got it all wrong, Beast! Riku, put away your weapon!" Sora shouted and reached out for the two fighting beings, watching them (mostly Riku) dodge around more as their little skirmish continued. The brunet really didn't want to draw his own blade, but the way things were going he would probably have to intervene.

"I'd really love to, but I'll get my face torn off if I do!" The silver haired teen called back and very luckily dodged the large paw that made a swipe for his head. The Beast looked back at Sora to momentarily question him and then swiftly returned his gaze right to Riku.

"This monster is with you?" The Beast asked. Offended at the term he was referred to, Riku dropped his weapon to the ground and glanced off to the side. It was kind of ironic hearing the beast call _him_ a monster, but he let it go in favor of raising his hands into the air as a gesture of peace. "I…I mean you know harm; I swear you that. I'm here with Sora. Please, ask him if you don't trust me. I don't blame you a bit if you don't, though." The brunet had to force his eyes off of Riku's guilty features when the Beast glanced his way.

"Sora?" The animal looked at him skeptically and when Sora nodded, the Beast slowly moved to stand in front of Riku while keeping his sharp eyes on the teen's face. "You swear that you mean no harm?" At Riku's nod, the Beast grunted and leaned a little closer with narrowed eyes, his jagged breaths hitting Riku's face, "You swear that you'll not harm Sora, his friends, nor the residents of this castle—especially not Belle?" Riku's growl matched that of the animal's and he clenched his fists tightly at his sides.

"I _promise_." Just the fact that he'd even be accused of hurting Sora made his blood pressure flare up—despite how justified he knew the accusation used to be related to his past self. _'_Used_ to, Riku. Don't forget that. You deserve this for what you've done to them. And _him_.' _The silveret reassured himself, his head bowed, and he took a deep breath.

The frosty air burned his throat and his lungs, but Riku looked up towards the Beast and kept his own visage serious, determination lighting his vibrant irises. "I swear to you, upon my life and everything that is dear to me, that I will not _ever_ harm a single resident of this world—unless by some unfortunate chance I _have to_ for their sake. And I will not draw my blade, unless if there is a Heartless/Nobody invasion and I'm forced to." Riku tried to crack a smile, but he found the corners of his lips tugging downward when a new voice interrupted with, "See? Don't you think you can have faith him? I can tell by the look in his eyes that he's telling the truth—every single word."

Riku glanced around the Beast to see a woman in a wine-coloured, wintry dress smiling at him. He looked shocked to see her, as did Sora—who obviously hadn't even known she was standing at his side to begin with—and she graced the visitors with a small wave. "If I can forgive him, you can too. Doesn't that make sense, Beast?" The sweet lilt in Belle's voice made Riku's stomach clench and that damn overflowing remorse started to tear at his chest and throat.

"But I…" Riku quietly trailed off and Sora took to staring at the ground with a sad expression on his face as some of the other residents of the castle filed out into the courtyard.

"_Sacré_ bleu! Je ne peux pas croire! Sora et les autres sont ici!" Riku's eyebrows furrowed as the small array of household products tinkered around near the brunet and his friends.

"Sorry about that, dears! Lumiere tends to revert back to his home language when he's taken by surprise. It only happens from time to time." The large teapot smiled up at Sora and Riku walked up to the little group, his emerald irises showing his fascination as he took in the porcelain cups.

"A talking…teapot," Riku marveled and Sora chuckled, causing the silver haired teen to blush ever so slightly. (He hadn't remembered seeing any talking appliances the last time he stopped by…)

"You act so surprised; but we've seen even stranger things, haven't we?" Sora smiled at his friend when the older male scratched the back of his neck with a subtle cough.

"Hey! Isn't that guy…the one who kidnapped Belle?" The smaller teacup shifted behind what Riku presumed to be his mother, and the teen winced when all eyes turned on him. '_The bad guy again, I suppose…'_

"Beast said he had silver hair and a scary black weapon!" The tiny cup failed to whisper this to the other products, and Sora had to chuckle at the frustration written on Riku's face despite how bad he felt for him.

"No, no; it's nothing like that!" Sora chuckled and decided to jump in and save his friend, and he was glad he did when Riku rewarded him with a grateful smile. It was small, but it was there… "Riku is actually my best friend. What happened when Belle was kidnapped…well, it was to help a friend of ours, and I know he wanted some good to come out of it. But it wasn't entirely his fault; he was being controlled by the Darkness. And Maleficent." Belle and the Beast had different reactions to the mention of the Witch's name. Belle visibly tensed, while the Beast let out a low growl—which is honestly what Riku almost did as well; similar things happened when he heard the name Ansem.

"And besides, Riku was the entire reason for my last journey, remember? I looked everywhere for him!"

"Sora…" Riku sighed and idly shifted the high collar of his shirt, wishing that Sora would understand that his past motives really had nothing to do with _Kairi_ as much as the brunet himself_… _"Sora, that's—" The brunet shook his head and raised a finger to silence his silver haired friend.

"No more. You've apologized enough to carry on into the next lifetime." When Sora smiled, Riku just gritted his teeth and looked away out of remorse. Why couldn't he just say that he had been a jealous fool? Why couldn't he just get down on his knees and admit the whole truth—the exact reason for everything and move on to be a better friend—a better person.

Why couldn't he just say those three words; 'I love you'?

"So please don't blame Riku for anything… His heart is good, and even though it has darkness, he still can balance it with the light. Honestly, what heart doesn't hold darkness!? All darkness isn't evil." As Sora continued, Riku watched his friend with ever-growing astonishment. _'Oh…That's why…'_ He couldn't say it because he didn't deserve to. Riku sighed and a tiny grin spread to his face when he thought that, if only he could just be allowed to stay by Sora's side like this – then he'd be happy. So far so good.

"So what do you say, Chip? D'you think that you and Riku can be friends?" Sora crouched down near the little teacup and smiled, earning a shy one in return. The two of them both stared back at Riku and offered him a smile, both a little different—Sora's being more sweet and reassuring, Chip's being more toothy (as much as he actually _had_) and child-like.

"Yeah of course!"

"You see; everything's fine. Don't worry about something so small, Sora. Why don't we all just go in and talk around the fireplace. I'm sure there's a reason for your visit." Belle walked closer to Sora and lightly touched his shoulder, taking off her gloves as she walked back towards the castle. "I was just about to teach the Beast how to ice-skate, but I think he'd rather help you out." With a playful smile directed towards the suddenly timid animal, Belle began to gracefully walk away until Sora made a pleased noise.

"I love ice-skating!" Sora grinned and winced when he saw Donald scowling at him.

"Sora. You know we can't afford to be messing around. And since when have you ever ice-skated!?" Donald looked skeptical, so Sora laughed when everyone else looked at him and awaited his answer.

"Well… The people in Christmas Town were talking about it and I thought it sounded like fun," he answered, scratching the back of his neck as Riku chuckled and shook his silver head of hair. Donald merely sighed quite audibly, ultimately giving in when the brunet put on his 'pouty' face.

It was Sora's ultimate weapon for instances like this.

"Not even the duck can refuse you…" Riku mused, more to himself than to Sora, who had managed to hear him speak.

"What's that mean?" Sora raised an eyebrow sidling up to his friend teasingly, "Are you saying that my pouting can work on you, too? Hmm?" Sora asked innocently, batting his pretty eyelashes while he took great delight in the way the other male gulped.

"N…No." Riku tried to glance away, many times, but found his eyes returning to those cerulean ones and those damn pouting, peach lips that were now slightly pale from the cold. "Not fair," the silver haired teen muttered under his breath and ignored the brunet's chuckles in favor of sending a surrendering look towards Donald and Goofy. "What do you say? It's not like a little deviation will hurt anything." Riku shrugged lightly and Sora giggled with the motion since he was still leaning on the other boy, and then he giggled even more when Riku patted and rested a hand atop of his cinnamon spikes.

"So ice-skating it is!" The lively candlestick raised his little 'arm' into the air and grinned. After the Beast let out a groan capable of being heard, Belle and the other objects laughed heartily. Apparently he'd been reluctant on the whole skating idea that Sora had brought up much to his dismay. Though it was understandable; animals and skates don't really mix.

"C'est magnifique! Messieurs, if you'd be so kind as to follow me?" The group watched the little candlestick hop around to the side of the castle, towards the garden, and they all looked at each other before trailing after him.

"I guess we're going ice-skating!" Goofy cheered and Donald just sagged as he walked alongside the tall castle guard.

"Hagh…"

"Come on, Donald! You can just sit back and watch; it's not like they have skates big enough for those boats you call feet, anyway." Sora grinned with a jab at the other's webbed feet and grinned as he narrowly avoided a random bolt of lightning.

Donald clutched his wand tightly and eyed the brunet expectantly, ready to zap again if necessary. "Care to say that again?" Sora just grinned and moved a little closer to his childhood friend, grabbing his arm with the mentality that 'if I go down, you go down with me since you're my friend.' The older boy simply rolled his eyes but welcomed the touch as he saw Donald fold his arms.

"I wouldn't talk if I were you. I bet I could fit both of my feet into one of the shoes you wear now!"

Riku grinned at the brunet's indignant response and draped an arm over his small shoulder. "Nah, that's nothing. You remember the yellow shoes he used to hobble around in? I bet you could fit a world's-worth of people in one of those enormous things." The silveret teased good-naturedly and watched the brunet's face swiftly darken to a nice red colour just before he was swatted away from his friend.

"Sh-Shut up!" The brunet shouted and bundled through the snow, kicking up the white powder as he stomped ahead. From a few paces behind, Belle chuckled as she watched the rest of the gang laugh at the brunet's embarrassment. Though her eyes rested on Riku's form as the other male kept his eyes on Sora and eventually hurried up by his side, laughing into an apology. Understanding washed over her as she watched Riku smile down at the brunet after he was mock-reluctantly forgiven. She knew the look in his eyes; hadn't been sure at first, but now she was. However, she had been admittedly worried when she had seen the silver haired teen in their world again. Though once she saw him offer his apology, and how sincere he had been, she just knew that it was right to fogrive him. Now she had seen the young male sneeking longing glances at his shorter friend every now and again. For whatever reason, it made her happy everytime the two smiled at each other.

"Hmm. Don't they look nice?" She whispered to the Beast as she walked alongside him.

"Hn? Who?" The Beast glanced over their shoulders and caught sight of the two teenagers walking side by side, but a little closer than they had been before. (Only Belle noticed Sora's deeply flushed features, however.)

"I don't see anything…" The poor Beast was confused as to why he was watching Riku and Sora occasionally glance at each other only until one of them was caught—which resulted in either of them looking away and flushing only to repeat the process. He just didn't understand what the woman was gettint at.

But then again, he didn't have time to once they reached the area that the little candelabra led them to.

X+---+--0--+---+X

It had been a good hour, Sora thought, since they'd been herded to the little ice pond that rested just outside the castle's left flank. Belle had disappeared for a little while and then came back brandishing coats and scarves for the practically frost-bitten travelers. They all accepted the bulky clothing gratefully – and everyone chuckled at how Donald looked all burrowed in the oversized garments he had picked out. But after that little deviation, Sora was the first to hit the ice—shoes still on—and he called for the others to join him as he spun around and tried to stay on his feet. Riku just watched him incredulously, as if the fact that Sora keeping his balance, on ice of all things, was something entirely baffling.

Though, seeing as the brunet had those big shoes of his, Riku probably had the right to be baffled.

"Come on, guys!" Sora called and tried his best to slide around in the shape of a 'figure eight' on the frozen lake. He failed.

It didn't take long for the other residents of the world to join him on the ice. They were all skating with joy—even Goofy, who zipped around on the ice with all the grace of a professional ice-skater. Riku didn't know which was more surprising: Sora's ability to keep his balance almost perfectly, or _Goofy's_.

But all of that aside, Sora chuckled as he saw Riku inching his way onto the ice. The teen cautiously slid his foot and tapped it on the ice, as if he were testing it to hold his weight. (This little action was cast aside once he saw Belle dragging the Beast along as she tried to teach him to skate.) Once he knew his friend was testing out his own skating skills, Sora turned around to glance at all of the other people with him.

Donald wasn't really making any efforts to keep himself in a vertical position; while Goofy was still doing two-foot touches with the finesse of a figure skater. Belle had taken the reluctant Beast's hands and was skating backwards while she led him around the frozen arena, and all of the castle servants had made it to the ice as well. This went on for about another hour, and Sora loved every second of it—from watching the Beast gradually acquire some skill, to smiling at the heartily laughs from the household objects that tinkered around on the ice as they watched their master skate.

One of his favourite moments though, would have to be watching Riku skate. As graceful as he was, you'd think that he'd at least be able to keep a decent stability upon the ice—but he was on the ground clinging to whatever he could even more than the Beast.

It was humorous, apparently, because Sora had continued on with his inane laughter as he watched Riku struggle to keep his balance on the evil frozen lake.

Sora couldn't really explain it; he was just _so_ happy.

Maybe it was just the fresh, wintry air that filled their lungs, or maybe it was the atmosphere of the snow-covered castle, or maybe it was just the fact that he was with his friends…but whatever it happened to be, it was infectious. It felt like nothing could get rid of the emotions that so warmly surrounded his heart—this did not dilute the fact that Riku was now at his side and smiling at him so peacefully. Was Riku truly as happy as he was?

"Are you having fun?" Sora asked the other boy straight out as he plopped down next to him as they decided to take a break where the ice met the snowy ground. He shivered slightly from the added cold to his bottom, but he shyly scooted closer to Riku to somehow play the action off to gain a bit of heat. Riku was always warm, anyway.

"Why the sudden inquiry? Of course I'm having fun, Sor." Riku smiled warmly and ruffled the brunet's cinnamon spikes. "I…love it here," Riku drawled carefully and gently ran a hand through his hair; deciding to place his palm on top of Sora's cinnamon-coloured spikes as the other boy grinned to himself. "It's like you can't really be anything other than in high spirits. So I bet you're completely at ease," Riku said with a grin at Sora's darkening features and idly fixed the brunet's scarf so that his neck wouldn't get any colder.

"There. All better?" He asked, ruffling the younger male's hair lightly one more time just to get that particular urge out of his system.

"Mhmm," Sora mumbled out as he buried his face into his warm scarf, bringing his hands up to tug the cloth a little tighter to himself. Riku laughed as he watched this, but he couldn't help but notice the way that Sora's pallid fingers shook. So, always concerned for his friend's well-being, Riku shifted closer and motioned towards the brunet's pasty limbs.

"Hey, are your hands cold? Your fingernails are purple…" Riku frowned and tilted his head even closer to Sora's in case the brunet wasn't planning on looking up in order to speak.

"Huh?" The light reflected in the brunet's crystallized irises the moment he glanced up, and Riku found that he had a slight difficulty getting oxygen—for what seemed like the millionth time that day.

"I…don't want them to be numb if we have to fight. It would suck if they fell off," Riku teased lightly and reached up to take the brunet's frigid hands within his own. Because he still had his arm band, his left hand was not as cold—but this was also due to the fact that he had not been playing in the snow like Sora had. "Here. Let me warm them for you. I don't want them to hurt later." Sora was amazed at how softly Riku had spoken, and how gently the other male's fingers had wrapped around his own—warming them up in an instant. It was enough even before the silver haired teen softly blew hot air out onto their joined hands and nuzzled them against his cheek—Sora guessed Riku did this just to see if his hands felt any warmer. (Though he wouldn't admit that it was the reason his blush darkened.)

"A-Ah… Th..Thanks so much! I already have some feeling back!" Sora beamed at his friend and he did not fully realize how close Riku had been until the other male released a tiny, content sigh.

"That's good then. We'd be in quite a bind if your little fingers couldn't support that hefty keyblade, now wouldn't we?" Riku chuckled after a few moments of comfortable silence passed. The silver haired teen slid his hand under Sora's and lifted it to his lips, daring to leave a small kiss there on the brunet's cold, but still incredibly soft skin.

"Maybe Belle has some gloves that you can borrow. We didn't exactly come prepared for this weather…"

Sora watched in a deeply flustered surprise as his friend quickly rose to his feet and idly glanced around, stuffing his hands into the jacket that was given to him. Looking down at his pale hand, Sora inhaled as he visualized Riku kissing over his knuckles once more. The brunet had liked such a simple action so much. Even when it was meant to be playful…

"A-Actually, maybe we better get started on looking at all of the library's books," Sora offered and inwardly cursed at the way his voice shook the slightest bit. He watched Riku give him a questioning look, but when he didn't act on the inquiry, Sora took his turn to explain, "It's just that we've been out here for a while and I feel bad for getting everyone sidetracked when we have some work to do. And a lot of it." Those last few words seemed to make the brunet pout slightly as his spirit deflated a small bit.

"Oh, of course." Riku's eyes lit up in understanding and he nodded as he turned around, "Sorry, it's just as much my fault for letting you be such a slacker." Riku grinned from over his shoulder and for once, Sora laughed and shook his head at the taunt.

"_Well_! You should be sorry! You're the oldest; take responsibility~!" Sora grinned right back and jabbed his friend in the kidneys as he stuck his tongue out teasingly, unaware of the few seconds that Riku's gaze lingered on it until it was back in his mouth.

"Ah, but it's such a hassle to waste my time babysitting little kids like you." Riku's shoulders slumped in mock-defeat and Sora looked offended, even if it was just for show. His cheeks puffed out and his baby-blue irises darkened slightly as he moved to block his friend's path.

"Say that again," he dared playfully.

Riku took a few steps forward and leaned down; close enough for Sora to feel the other male's breath ghost over his own lips. "Hm. And if I don't?" Much to Sora's dismay, Riku pulled back and laughed brightly. "Geez. Sora, you look as if I was going to bite your nose off. Relax. I know I've been…tense lately, but I'm still the same guy I was before." Riku smiled and ran a hand through his friend's hair affectionately. Sora looked as if he wanted to say something, but he simply bit his lower lip and then put up a smile as he noticed the other residents of the world wandering over towards them.

"I know, Riku," the brunet muttered softly without looking at the other teen, "And I couldn't be happier…"

Riku looked surprised by this answer, but he didn't get to question his friend on anything because the brunet was already teasing Donald about how miserably cold he looked. Goofy joined in on the taunting, as did all of the household objects, while Riku just stood by himself and scratched his arm idly.

"He's…happy?" He asked himself quietly as if he couldn't get his mind to wrap around the words and make sense.

"Who? Sora?"

Riku flinched quite visibly when a hand touched his bicep. He looked back to meet a pair of cinnamon-coloured irises and the smiling face of Belle. She chuckled to herself and moved to stand in front of him as he placed a hand to his convulsing chest. How did she learn to sneak up on people stealthily like that!? It was pretty bad that he had let her sneak up and startle him—even if she wasn't intending to do so.

"Why so serious?" The woman asked with another one of her famous carefree smiles. With a small sigh, Riku scratched his arm and then pulled his jacket tighter around himself as he muttered, "It's…nothing, really. I was just thinking about some things." The teen trailed off and looked at the ground while Belle tapped her chin thoughtfully with a fuzzily gloved finger. Riku tired not to be nervous, but while standing next to the woman that he had kidnapped…didn't really help his case. Belle's brown eyes flashed with understanding as she caught onto what Riku was thinking. It was with a small smile that she reached out to touch the tall silver haired boy's shoulder.

"Well, whatever it is that's on your mind, I know it must be a little complicated. Those 'things' have something to do with him, don't they?" She asked gently, pointed a finger in Sora's general direction. Riku glanced up from the ground and followed her motion until he caught sight of Sora walking on ahead – the brunet stopped suddenly and pointed ahead of him, to where a small, clothed footstool ran around like a small puppy. Sora's eyes lit up and he laughed as the animated furniture leapt towards him and ran around his legs until he crouched down to 'pet' its cushion.

"He's very important to you," Belle stated, and Riku looked at her when her voice denoted that what she had just said was not meant to be a question. His brows furrowed lightly and his gaze rested on the snow once more.

"Yeah…"

Belle had to chuckle at the level of seriousness that Riku had just spoken with. She was trying to relieve some of the obvious tension away from him so that he could go back to Sora and spend time with the boy instead of quietly brood to himself in the cold. Ah, but he was one tough cookie.

"Well! Don't you think you should be over there with him, then?" She tapped the teen's reddened nose lightly and then pointed towards the group near Sora, indicating that she was headed there when she started walking away from him. "It'll be awfully lonely to stay by yourself in this weather! Oh, take a look at that…" Riku once again followed Belle's gaze when she turned around and saw that Sora had been waving to the two of them and mentioning for them to come over.

"You're right," Riku admitted once he had caught up to the brunette. "I would be lonely…"

"Of course! But something tells me that you'd rather be at Sora's side most of all. He has a very attractive personality, doesn't he?" She smiled and leaned closer in order to watch Riku's face darken slightly. To avoid a direct inquiry, Riku coughed and slid his hands into his pockets and hoped to hell that she couldn't see how much his blush had deepened after he covered his cheeks with his layered bangs.

"You could say that."

At this small revelation, Belle simply smiled and patted the silver haired male's arm. He was a good kid, and she knew how important he was to Sora. Maybe that was why she had felt so happy to see that they had found each other and worked everything out. _'And…maybe_,' she thought as she continued on ahead of the other male, _'Maybe they're headed for something much more_ _profound and deep_.' It was thoughts like those that made the more poetic, feminine side of her swoon with delight. And their situation had reminded her of a book that she had once read.

"You two will be all right," Belle said with a smile, confusing Riku, who had finally caught up with her and the rest of the group, "I just _know_ it…"

What she knew, Riku had no idea. But he found that whatever it was didn't matter quite so much as the boy who had just called out his name. Nothing could ever matter as much to him as Sora, after all…

Once the group had entered the castle, Belle was the first to speak.

"Why don't you have Lumiere show you the way to the library?" She suggested softly, turning to face Sora and his friends as they removed their winter accessories, "I will be helping with dinner—you'll be here for that long, won't you?"

The woman's features brightened when she received a happy nod from Sora. The brunet crouched down by the candlestick at his feet and tilted his head to the side. "Could you take us to the library, please?" He asked and Lumiere, along with a few of the other utensils agreed to guide them to their destination.

"Great!" Belle slid her arm around the Beast's and tugged him in the direction of a large door, smiling when he figured out where she was heading. "The Beast will be helping us out in the kitchen, so just ask Lumiere and the others if you need anything! I'll send someone to get you when dinner is ready." It was then with a smile and a loud sigh [from the Beast] that the two departed from the group. Riku couldn't help but feel slightly relieved to know that the Beast had left them for a while; probably because the animal had wanted to rip his face off and kept checking on him every five seconds…

"Riku?"

The sound of Sora's voice broke Riku from the several 'death by claw' visions that were plaguing his mind. But once that angelic voice had saved him, he almost felt the need to hug the smaller brunet the moment he turned to look at him. Sora was gazing at him questioningly and a small smile grew over his lips a few moments later.

"We're leaving, Riku," Sora pointed out, mentioning towards the candlestick that was hopping in the other direction. Riku was surprised that he had slipped away from reality, but he hurried to Sora's side and smiled down at him as they followed their guides. It was nice. Throughout their walk, Sora had taken in all of the lovely decorations that had been placed about and, once they had gotten a little further into the castle, he couldn't help but cry out as he caught more of the animated household products in the middle of setting up even more decorations. Riku was fascinated as well, seeing all the lights, strings, tinsel, bulbs, and etc. being strewn about by common utensils. (He vaguely wondered if anything that was being hung had the ability to speak as well.)

"Oh-ho, you seem to be quite enamored with ze decorations, no? The Master was, how shall I say, _adamant_ about not putting ze decorations up, but… Well, let us just say that I can be persuasive. And Belle – she helped, too. Ze two of us are pretty good at sweet-talking." Lumiere's smirk was lazy as he talked to the others, his eyebrows rising and falling a few times. Cogsworth merely sighed and tried his best to ignore anything the candlestick said.

Sora smiled at this and chuckled lightly, "The Beast really cares for Belle, huh? You think they'll be okay?" The brunet asked, his eyes resting on his friend's content features moments later. Riku felt his friend's gaze on him and the turned his head so that their eyes met. Sora blinked, as did Riku, but neither pulled away.

"Ah, but that is just it, mon ami. You are still aware of our Master's curse, yes? We are unable to return to our human forms unless ze spell is broken by true love. But we have hope…!" The small candlestick turned to face the two teens and noticed how their gazes were locked.

"And…once ze spell is broken… We can all return to our original forms, as you know," Lumiere finished slowly, but he had the growing suspicion that neither of the boys had heard what he had said. So with a smile, he instead turned to Donald and Goofy at his left and nodded in Riku and Sora's direction.

Riku was panicking. At least, on the inside he was. On the outside, he was the very epitome of cool, what with his viridian irises content and his features calm. But this did not delude the fact that he was a nervous wreck inside and just short of going insane. Why hadn't Sora looked away yet? He had just been studying his friend's bright profile until the brunet turned towards him and glance up, a curious expression now on his face. There was just something about the way that Sora had looked at him that made his inside warm…and all his rational thoughts cease to exist.

Could Sora see the emotions he was feeling through his eyes? Riku knew they were expressive—Sora had been the one to tell him that—but…

"What are you thinking about?" Sora finally asked, blushing slightly for allowing himself to stare at his friend for so long. He just couldn't bring himself to look away, though. Riku was staring at him so seriously, and the warmth he found within his friend's eyes made his heart thunder in his chest. He wasn't sure why, and he could admit that it scared him a little.

"Huh?" Riku felt his pulse speed up as well as Sora leaned a bit closer and narrowed his eyes slightly as he inspected his friend carefully.

"You've been quiet… a bit more than normal. I hope you're not getting a cold." Sora's brows furrowed and he reached a hand up to place on the other boy's forehead, his blue eyes overflowing with concern. It was enough to make Riku gently smile down at him and affectionately run a hand through the brunet's hair. The kid worked overtime when it came to caring for others.

"Sora," Riku chuckled and eyed his companion fondly; "You don't have to worry. I'll tough it out even if I get sick. But really, I feel fine." With that being said, Riku reached for the brunet's hand that was still resting on his forehead and held it tightly. "Thanks for caring about me."

Lumiere regarded the scene before him with a new perspective and he then smirked – as much as the candlestick could, anyway. _'How interesting!'_ The candlestick stopped just before the large doors and watched the group behind him follow suit, Riku's hand shooting out to stop the distracted brunet before he walked too far.

"Now, my friends, we have arrived. Behind these doors awaits an arsenal of books unlike any you've ever seen." Lumiere bowed before them and stepped aside so that Riku, being the first to reach out, could open the great entrance. Beyond it, however, there actually was an arsenal of books unlike anything they'd seen before. The walls were similar to that of the ballroom's, being orange and cream-coloured, but the floors were tiled in a green that tied the room together surprisingly well. And there were several royal insignias along the many, many bookshelves.

Riku was awestruck; Even the library back at Hollow Bastian was nothing compared to what he was standing before. Hundreds upon hundreds of shelves lined all sides of the rooms and there were a few desks littered around certain spots so that the center of the room wasn't too empty. Riku liked it. So did Sora, apparently, because he was the first to walk into the room and smile.

"Whoa!" The brunet walked over to the wall covered with large books and ran his finger over a particular novel's spine.

"These books are in such great condition," Riku marveled as he retracted a book once he moved to Sora's side. The brunet glanced over at his older friend and smiled. Riku did always like to read in his spare time – when they weren't parading across the islands and such, that is.

"This is going to take forever," Donald muttered dejectedly as he and Goofy separated to each take a section of the room to investigate. And while Sora agreed with his feathered friend, he couldn't help but want to explore the entire place. According to the ladder at the far right side of the room, there was more area for them to check above. There were also more bookcases up there, from what the brunet could see; the upper area wrapped around the room—once again reminding him of the ballroom's design.

"Where do we even start, Riku?" Sora asked his friend, looking a little lost. He reminded himself that they were here to work, not to explore. Riku however, saw the small pout on the brunet's face and immediately knew what he was thinking.

"Don't worry. Why don't you go look around while the rest of us search? Maybe you'll find something else useful. Plus I'm sure there are books here on 'hearts' and 'catalysts' and the like. Leave it to me, Sor." Riku smiled, ruffling the younger's hair, and gave him a gentle nudge in the direction of the ladder. Sora's surprised expression melted into a grateful one, and he gave the older male a heart-stopping smile.

"Thanks, Riku. Can't fool you, can I?" The brunet grinned and then he departed after a small wave to the silver haired teen.

Riku watched him leave, and was only able to breathe again once Sora was out of sight. He inhaled softly and ran a hand through his hair. What had that been? He had never gotten so dizzy just from one of Sora's smiles; _yes_, they were magnificent, but that had made him feel so much different than before… He rubbed a hand over his chest and gazed off in the direction that Sora had wandered off in.

Just how far had he fallen for the brunet, anyway…?

"C'est l'amour…" The small candlestick muttered as he hopped onto the table that Riku was standing next to. The silver haired teen raised an eyebrow and scratched the side of his neck, ignoring the suspicion he had – that Lumiere had been watching them.

"Sorry, I don't know a word of French," he muttered and gave the candlestick a small smile before he walked towards a different bookshelf. As he watched the human walk away, Lumiere gave a simple grin and then shrugged.

"That is all right… Love speaks its own language, mon ami. And you 'ave got that down pretty good from what I see."

Riku did not hear him—for he was too busy thinking about his best friend. He couldn't seem to stop, even as he inspected the books on the shelf in front of him. Was Sora still exploring? Was he goofing off? Was he actually researching for the information they needed? These and other thoughts plagued him, but after about fifteen minutes – give or take – Riku had a nice pile of books stacked up on the table he was sharing with Lumiere.

"I don't understand!" The silveret sighed, setting his current book down against the table and he leaned back in his chair, giving Lumiere a good view of the page he was currently frustrated with.

"That would be because it is written in French…" The candlestick offered with a small smirk, "That would be…a language that I happen to be _fluent_ in, no?" He hinted and Riku stared at him blankly.

With a sigh, Riku pushed the hardback closer to the candlestick and gave him a pleading look. "Then if you don't mind… Translation?" He asked hopefully and the candlestick laughed as he hopped off of the stacked books he was situated on to get a better view.

"Okay, mon ami, allow me to begin." The candlestick skimmed over the first few lines of the heading and he grinned. "_Love is one of those mysteries that people spend their whole lives wondering about and searching for. Depending on whom you speak to, love is either a magical happening or a mere fantasy that does not end as the fairy tales portray it,"_ Lumiere paused in his translation for a minute and took in the silver haired male's wistful expression.

Riku gave another small sigh and reached for another book. "No, that's enough. I'm looking for the description and information on a particular object – not love and the heart itself," he murmured, blushing faintly once he met Lumiere's knowing gaze. The small candelabrum shrugged, as much as an animated candlestick actually could, and allowed the teen to continue on in his search. It was hardly five minutes later when Sora appeared at the top of the stairs, holding a large book in his hands. His grin was wide, and Riku rose to his feet with a similar triumphant expression lighting his features. Sora had apparently made an important discovery, if the way he was excitedly waving the book through the air was any indication.

"What have you got there?" Riku asked and Sora continued to grin, placing a hand over his hip as he held the book in front of his face in his upturned palm.

"I think this might have a bunch of clues on how that object works. It's even got a bunch of pictures and functions and ways to make it work! Can you believe it~?" Sora smiled and scratched the side of his head, "Though, due to my very limited knowledge of French, I can only understand bits and pieces. Some of the descriptions are in English, though. In any case, I'm just glad that we found it!" Sora called out happily and Riku smiled up at him.

"You're the one who found it. Good job, Sora." Whether it was the soft way in which the other teen praised him, or it was the look in his eyes, Sora didn't know—but something about the silver haired male had made him blush and idly tap his fingers over the book.

"W-Well, I—"

"_Yes. Thanks so much for finding it."_

The room immediately fell silent as a new voice echoed over everything else.

Both Riku and Sora tensed when a wisp of darkness appeared in the center of the room, near the high chandelier. It swirled around like smoke until a large wolf-like beast emerged from it and dropped to the table. Startled by the creature's sudden materialization, the room's occupants took a step back.

"_This makes our work all the more easy. Really; what luck!"_

Riku instantly stilled when he looked back up to check on Sora.

"Don't move or I'll kill him," The small girl hovering behind Sora threatened; her amber eyes flashed as she clutched the book that Sora had been carrying with one hand and held up a very sharp looking dagger in his other. Her weapon was poised at the brunet's throat, and Sora's eyes had widened momentarily before shifting to meet Riku's horrified stare. The older male could see the worry and panic in the brunet's cerulean irises, and he inwardly cursed himself for letting such a predicament befall his best friend.

'_Damn it,' _Riku growled and summoned his blade, carefully watching the beast in front of him as he cleared his throat. "What do you want from us?"

The girl shook her head, the movement swaying her long and messy blonde pigtails as she slowly smiled. "I just came to see what the fuss over you all is about. You don't look all that threatening," the girl mused, hovering a bit to the right so that she could study Sora's features. "You're actually rather cute!" She giggled and poked at his cheek, careful not to stab him as she did so.

Her words had brought forth a growl from Riku and he would have charged her if there wasn't a snarling wolf-creature just waiting to maul him a few feet away.

"What's _your_ deal?" The girl asked, looking offended as she saw Riku's intense glare directed straight at her. "Sheesh, the Boss said you two were really close, but I never expected you to be _this_ clingy."

Riku visibly tensed as the small girl rolled her eyes and muttered something to the brunet—probably telling him not to move—as she slung an arm over his stressed shoulder. The girl looked over Sora's nervous, contemplating expression and almost suppressed the urge to giggle. He really was cute. And Mr. Silver Dude wasn't lacking in the looks department, either.

But there was something about the two that caught her eye. She saw the way they kept sneaking glanced at each other. Almost as if they were communicating telepathically. They could have been, for all she knew.

"I'll ask you this again. What do you want from us!?" Riku inquired, a bit more forcefully than he had before. The girl released Sora from her grasp, but repositioned the knife at the pulse on his neck. Her amber irises did not leave Riku's profile as she sighed and glanced at the book in her hands.

"Look. I think you know who I am. Maybe not personally, but you probably know why I'm looking for the same device that you are." As she spoke, the room's occupants tensed. It was their first encounter with the small organization they were going against. There hadn't been any warning, which left them at a disadvantage, but they knew what to expect at the very least.

"You're—"

"Ah, ah, ah," The girl tsked and flicked Sora's little nose, "I don't think I gave _you_ permission to speak. In any case, I just came by for the book." She paused again when she saw the harsh scowl Riku was throwing her way. '_I'm sorry,'_ she thought, _'But I need this more than you do…'_

Sora glanced at the girl out of the corner of his eye and saw the momentary regret on her child-like features. What was that about? The blue-eyed brunet was about to retaliate and summon his keyblade, but the girl's blade moved closer to his neck.

"Don't even think about it. You're an easy read, kiddo~!" She taunted, and Sora's brows furrowed. He opened his mouth to speak, and when he didn't get any opposition from the girl, he proceeded; "How can _you _call me a kid!? You look like you're twelve!" Sora protested, but once again was silenced by the girl's cold dagger pressing against his throat.

"Look. We all have our reasons for nabbing this thing. I don't personally know why you're looking for the catalyst—no one but our leader does. So…" She paused and offered a smile, one that Sora could immediately tell was pained.

"No hard feelings?" She called out jubilantly and kicked Sora forward with her right foot, sending him over the edge of the upper balcony. Riku was there before Sora could hit the ground, catching the brunet safely within his arms and holding him protectively against his chest as he looked upwards.

The girl was gone. And the beast had vanished along with her.

But the silver haired teen's attention returned to the boy in his arms and he let out a small gasp, ignoring the other's that rushed to their sides as he gazed at his younger friend.

"Sora!" Riku set his friend on the desk he was closest to and frantically looked over his form, lightly touching his cheeks, arms, and his neck. "Are you all right? Does anything hurt? Did she cast any magic on you?" Riku asked worriedly, caressing the side of the brunet's cheek as he continued to scope for any injuries. Sora's breathing sped up at the same time Riku's hand ghosted over his chest, over where his heart was.

"I'm sorry I couldn't protect you… And now you're like this," Riku lowered his head as he curled his fingers into his palm, but kept his hand over Sora's frantically beating heart. "You're shaking. I'm sorry."

"Riku…" Sora grabbed his friend's hand and traced a few fingers over the silveret's clenched fist. The brunet sighed, but made sure that Riku was looking at him. Their eyes met and Riku was shocked to find that Sora seemed so content now, when moments ago he had been troubled.

The light danced off of the brunet's eyes once he looked up, and his smile softened.

"Thank you, Riku… But it's not your fault. I'm completely fine." Sora reached up so that he could hug his friend tightly. For some reason, he had just gotten the urge to hold Riku close, and he couldn't suppress, or really explain, the sudden longing that he felt to do so. The silver haired teen had tensed within his arms, but settled into the embrace moments later and briefly nuzzled his cheek against his friend's. Even as they pulled back, they were unaware of their audience; Donald and Cogsworth just shuffled around awkwardly while Lumiere and Goofy didn't even bother hiding their joyful smiles.

However, none of them noticed the brunette woman standing in the doorway, one hand on the door's frame as she smiled.

"I hope I'm not interrupting. I just came to tell you all that it's time for dinner!" Belle took the silence as an opportunity to speak and walked into the room as she spoke. Both Riku and Sora flinched in surprise and looked at Belle. Riku then glanced at the window at the back of the room to see how dark it had become without him realizing. At this rate, they'd have to spend the night if they wanted to find any other information…

"Thanks!" Sora smiled at the woman and gave her a small wave before he turned back towards his silver haired friend. Riku still hadn't let go of his waist… "Um," the brunet stalled and peeked up at his friend through his chocolate bangs, smiling timidly. While he found that he really didn't mind being there, Sora noticed that the audience around them were watching with interest—though whether they were either curious or fascinated was beyond him.

"So did you find what you were looking for?" Belle asked as she watched Riku's reaction upon realizing his and Sora's position. Riku coughed and hesitantly released his friend from his grasp, flushing slightly as he glanced up to meet Belle's waiting stare. (She found their reactions to be amusing, at the least.)

"Actually," Sora coughed—since he, too, was rather embarrassed—and hopped off of the table. "We have, but…" Sora shared glances with all of his companions and they all nodded. "The book that I found was taken," he finished gravely.

Belle looked at them in confusion and she turned to look over her shoulder once the Beast had walked through the doorway. Once her attention was back on Sora, she asked, "What do you mean 'taken'?" Her chocolate eyes flashed with confusion until Sora told her of their situation. Belle had been surprised to hear of the details on what happened, but the Beast however, did not.

"We don't know how or where the girl came from, but she just appeared and then stole the book Sora had found," Riku added onto the brunet's finished explanation with a frown. He eyed his friend worriedly, but Sora shook his head with a smile.

Belle's eyes had widened and she bit her lip in concern. "But… We didn't even heard a thing. Are you all okay?" She received nods from the entire room and then, after giving a relieved sigh, she turned to look at the Beast. Sensing his anger, she reached out to place a hand on his furry arm. He blew out a harsh breath and turned around.

"You said she was a small girl with long hair?" The Beast asked, still looking rather vexed. Sora nodded and walked up to the tall animal slowly, looking back over his shoulder when he heard Riku trailing behind him.

"Yeah. She had long blonde hair and she looked as if she were still a child… I don't know if she was, or not. But she is dangerous. I don't want her hurting anyone in the castle, Beast." Sora looked around the library and then locked eyes with the beast before him. Hopefully the girl had left so that there wouldn't be any confrontation. But then…if that was the case, they had just lost their lead as well.

"I don't care why she was here; I will _not_ tolerate any more fighting in my castle," the beast snarled, whirling around to storm towards the exit, stopping only when he was standing in the doorway. "I will look for any signs of that child. You can keep looking, if you want. Stay on your guard and…be careful." Once he had gotten his message through, the Beast had left. Belle hesitated a moment before she turned back towards the others.

"Maybe it's best if you stay here until morning. You can do a little looking around when you wake up, and then you can leave if you don't find anything. Perhaps I can ask the Beast to help me find something while you continue your travels," Belle smiled at Sora, patiently waiting for a response from the group.

"I don't mind staying. I'm just worried that more people will show up if we do," Riku answered, glancing at his shorter friend from the corner of his eye. He could tell by the look on Sora's face that the younger male agreed. But then, when he thought about it, they would be more prepared and ready for another confrontation if need be.

"I agree with Riku, but… I still want to look. Would it really be okay for us to stay here?" Sora asked quietly. Riku gave him a reassuring smile and they both looked towards Belle, who nodded.

"Of course," she spoke softly, "We already have food prepared for you, anyway!" She motioned towards the door and waited for the group to follow.

It didn't take them long to get situated in the dining room. It was just as big as the other rooms, of course, but even though the atmosphere was comfortable, Sora didn't feel much like engaging in conversation with anyone other than Riku or Goofy [because they were seated on either sides of him.]

Riku was concerned for his friend, and continued to watch him all throughout their meal. He hadn't eaten much—and that was a huge cause for concern. He waited, but after about ten minutes his patience was growing thin as he listened to everyone but Sora talk and laugh. Riku finally couldn't take his friend's silence anymore, so he leaned close to the brunet's ear and whispered, "What's wrong, Sor?" Immediately, the brunet sat up and lifted his chin from his upturned palm. The brunet blinked a couple of times before he gave an unusually happy grin.

"Nothing, of course!" Sora whispered back, avoiding his friend's stare. He knew Riku wasn't going to believe him, but it was still worth a try. He just…didn't want him to worry.

"Sora, I—" Before Riku could finish; however, Sora turned and gave him a pleading look. Eyes widening slightly, Riku kept their gaze locked until Sora grabbed his fork and poked at his food. Riku's brows creased at his friend's reaction, but he simply leaned back in his seat and stared at the table. That expression that Sora had given him…it was painful to see. What good was he if he couldn't even cheer his best friend up?

Sora picked up on his friend's dropping mood and he began to chew on his lower lip. It hadn't been his intention to upset Riku, but it seemed like that was what happened. And now he felt even worse than he had before.

"Riku…" Sora stalled for a few moments and then glanced around the table—everyone else seemed to be unaware of the two teen's situation, as they were carrying on with their upbeat conversations. It gave the brunet enough courage to reach over and entwine his fingers with his best friend's, and lean his head on the older boy's shoulder. It surprised Riku, naturally, but it only took him a few seconds to get used to their positions.

"Sora…?" Riku slid his arm around to his friend's back and easily hugged him a bit closer. Somehow, he didn't feel as slightly hopeless as he did before. If Sora was willing to be this close, then everything would be all right.

"I'm sorry. You just wanted to cheer me up… I know that. But I'm okay—_really_. Please believe that. I don't want you to worry and upset yourself over my mistake." Sora admitted softly, blushing a bit when he felt Riku squeeze his hand. The older male sighed and rested his chin atop the other male's head and began massaging his hand along the brunet's back soothingly.

"You didn't make a mistake, Sora. What happened was unexpected; you now that. No one blames you." Riku pulled back and gripped his friend's shoulders lightly. "So please don't be too hard on yourself. There's still tomorrow, right? We'll all be looking with you, so smile. Okay?" Riku looked down into his friend's brightening irises and saw the boy's lips twitching upwards. "There. That's much better." Riku chuckled as he ran his fingers through his friend's hair, ruffling the cinnamon-coloured spikes once Sora laughed.

Their dinner had ended shortly after their talk, and by then Sora still looked a little concerned. It wasn't until Belle showed them to their rooms that Sora seemed to return to his normal, cheerful self. Perhaps it was their room setup that lifted his spirits? Minus Sora, Riku wasn't too thrilled with his other roommates.

It was Donald, Goofy, Sora and himself in one room, so the noise factor was going to give him a head-ache if he couldn't get to sleep before the others. The two animals were already setting themselves up for bed, so Riku turned towards his friend.

Sora was sitting cross-legged on his designated bed, hands on his ankles as he stared at the comforter. The silver haired teen made his way over to his friend and took a seat next to him. The brunet slowly glanced up at him and smiled. It was a timid expression, and Riku had to look away before he did something he'd regret.

Chuckling darkly, Riku laid his head back against the headboard and stared at the ceiling as he felt his friend's curious gaze on him. "You know… I'm worried about you," the older male whispered. Sora's eyes widened and he sat up, fully turning towards his friend.

"What?" Sora asked helplessly. No, he didn't want his friend to worry! Why had Riku…said that to him? Concerned, he grabbed Riku's arm when the other male just stared at him in response. "Riku! Why are you—"

"See?" Riku paused and smiled at his friend, "I don't like to see you like this. If you're worried, you can talk to me." Riku touched the smaller hand on his forearm and inhaled softly. Maybe this was payback for earlier? When he hadn't been able to tell Sora his own fears…

"But…" The brunet fell down onto his knees against the mattress and his brows creased, giving him a sad expression. Riku couldn't handle it.

"Please don't look at me like that," he pleaded, sitting up straight and reached up to smooth out his friend's furrowed eyebrows. Sora accepted the touch, but pouted slightly before he let his head drop so that he was looking down at his lap. Riku saw this and gently lifted his friend's chin so that they were looking at each other. "All you have to do is talk to me." Riku spoke softly, loosing himself in his friend's eyes.

"I know," Sora returned just as quietly, wondering why it felt like he was leaning closer to his friend. "I'm…just tired, is all. Honest." Sora smiled; sort of embarrassed that Riku had been so close to him. The silver haired teen looked skeptical, but he pulled back and returned the expression as he watched Sora blush and struggle to slip under the sheets.

"I take it that's enough talk for now?" Riku laughed and rose to his feet as he watched Sora make himself comfortable. Returning to the bed across from his friend's, Riku also slipped off his shoes and lay down. He noticed that Sora was still watching him, so Riku grinned and turned onto his side so that they were looking into each other's eyes.

"You sure you don't want to talk about anything?" Riku asked. Sora just smiled and shook his head tiredly, yawning after he watched Riku do the same. "All right… Good night…Sora." Riku stared at his friend for a few more moments before he rolled onto his back and closed his eyes.

"Good…night, Riku," Sora returned, and even though he could hear Goofy, Donald, and now Riku's growing snores, he didn't feel tired. He figured that it was his small worry that was keeping him awake. But whatever it was, he knew that it was going to bother him until he told someone—preferably Riku—about it. He just didn't want to mess up again.

He had remained awake for what he guessed was twenty minutes before he finally felt tired enough to sleep. With one last glance around the room—his eyes finally stopping on Riku's peaceful, sound asleep form—he felt content enough to finally get some rest.

Moments after Sora had dozed off, Riku grew restless as his dream morphed into something much darker than what it had been.

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**~O~**

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_The instant that Riku had opened his eyes he felt like shutting them again. So he did, tightly. When he reopened them, he groaned at the unmistakable darkness that shrouded everything except his own body. So this was going to be exactly like before…_

_Taking a few cautious steps forward, Riku halted when a loud heartbeat echoed to where he was. The teen could make out faint whispering as he further listened to the faint sounds._

_"_Why?_" He heard the whisper clearly and he spun around checking everywhere for the owner of the faint voice. _

_**"Wasn't it easy?" **_

_He shook his head and tried to force himself awake. That last voice seemed to come from inside himself… But how? Just what was this place? Riku was tired of guessing._

_**"He was Ansem?" **_

_Riku's ears perked up at the familiar name that was whispered in a feminine voice. The silver haired teen could hear several more voices reverberating in every direction and his head began to spin. "What do you want this time?" He yelled out and grabbed his aching head. These dreams were beginning to cause quite a problem. But could he really call this a dream? Whenever he snapped out of them he was remembered everything. And he was still tired, so much that it was probably going to start affecting him in battle; along with worrying his best friend._

_**"Wasn't he the darkness?"**_

_**"Of course, he is evil."**_

_Riku snarled and tried to materialize his keyblade but he found his hand empty. "No…keyblade this time?" Riku gritted his teeth as the whispering grew louder and more distinctive voices could be heard._

_The silver haired teen tried to make sense of bits and pieces that the whispers came out in. 'Wasn't he the darkness? Wasn't it easy?' What the hell were they talking about!? And just where and who were 'they' anyway? With a groan, Riku looked down at his hands to find swirling marks on them. It seemed as if the darkness was beginning to materialize onto his body. But that didn't matter to him right now. _

_**"Do you hate emotion?" **_

_He heard a low voice ask, not whispering like the others. Where there really others here in the darkness, besides him and the replica? And the female voice fairly resembled the girl they ran into earlier…_

_"_I need more affection that you know_." _

_Riku's eyes widened when he heard the last sentence, for it was unmistakably spoken in his voice. "Would it kill you to make even a little bit of sense!? Just show yourselves!" He tried once more to summon his blade but nothing happened. __He silently cursed and whipped around when he felt a faint breeze against the back of his neck, as if someone had been behind him, breathing down his spine. "I want answers! Why am I _always_ sent here when I go to sleep? What the hell do you want, and why are you doing this only to me!?" The darkness around him shrunk back slightly, but nothing else seemed to happen. It was useless to try anything other than shouting. That's all he could do in this dream._

_Riku had realized that it might not actually be a dream, since he could clearly remember everything that happened that day and even after he woke up from this…place._

_**"Stay, stay and sleep."**_

_Riku closed his eyes and ignored the gentle voice; he was getting sick and tired of being kept where he was, floating in nothingness. "Tell me! What does any of this have to do with me?"_

_Silence. __It was no wonder he always awakened in a tense mood; these dreams were incredibly frustrating. _

_When the marks began to inch up his arm, Riku started to slowly walk forward until he broke into a sprint, hoping to at least get _somewhere_ other than the pitch blackness. _

_**"Running, running endlessly."**_

_Riku stopped and took a moment to regain his breath. "Stop toying with me!" He shouted, arms flying up to guard his eyes when a beam suddenly spouted from the dark and shone down on him—almost as if he was beneath a bright spotlight. All was quite for several minutes until a single footstep broke the silence._

_"This is quite fun. But I can't tell you what we're up to yet, so I'll just entertain myself for a while." Riku immediately recognized the voice of the shadow._

_"_You_." Riku growled when he felt someone standing behind him. _

_"You're wondering why we only do this to you, aren't you?" The voice asked. Riku cautiously flicked his eyes around, not knowing where the owner of the echoing voice actually was. __"Well? You are, right? Man. You aren't really all that exciting. When you're calm…" Riku jumped backwards when the shadow's face appeared right before him, close enough so that he could feel the sickening breath ghost over his face, and just as quickly as it appeared it was gone. "See? You're so easy to stir up. And unlike your uninteresting friends, I can see the obvious darkness in your heart." Riku tightened his fists and folded his arms—which he now realized were back to their normal colour; probably after when the light hit them. _

_"I abandoned that darkness a long time ago," Riku corrected bitterly._

_The shadow chuckled and the light surrounding Riku dispersed into the dark veil again. "Oh-ho? But I can see it! Your anger, your jealousy…your love. You're so easily persuaded to join any side to get what you so desperately yearn for, even if it's the darkness. Are you sure it's gone? It wasn't all that long ago, Riku." _

_The silver haired male took a step back, the words digging into his mind and his chest like a knife. If there was ever a time to wake up, it was now. He could still feel the pain of his regret. 'Even here…' He thought, clenching his fists to ease his frustration a little. "I'm not like that anymore. I'm _not_ going to betray anyone anymore. I'm not afraid of the darkness!" Riku shouted, feeling a strange sense of déjà vu._

_"Hmm… Are you sure? I mean, you can't even suppress the jealousy that results from others who touch or simply hang around your little friend. You're much easier to turn to the dark than they are." _

_Riku stiffened and thought about the reasons for this whole journey and the last world they had visited. "I don't want to be like that… It just happens. I…" Riku's fists unclenched and he gave up his attempts at fighting back. _

_"Sure. If you really wanted to be his lover you'd try with everything you have." Another unfamiliar voice interrupted; the harshness from the tone made Riku frown, but the words themselves struck him. "You're just a masochistic teenager. Damned to chase after that kid forever. You love the pain more than you love him." _

_Riku's eyes flashed dangerously and for a final time, he tried to bring forth his keyblade. "Damn you! You don't know anything! Nothing is more important to me than Sora! _**_Nothing_**_."_

_"We'll see," one giggling voice taunted. After a few silent minutes, Riku let out an enraged shout and bent down—crouching and clutching at his throbbing head. The thousands of disembodied voices had returned all at once, and it felt as if his head was being torn apart._

_"__**And now you shall sleep**__." _

_Riku didn't even have time to digest the words before he let out a gasp when a deformed shadow appeared in front of him. _

_The last thing he remembered was being sent backwards with incredible force._

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**~O~**

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The dazed silver haired teen shot up roughly, with tiny beads of sweat trickling down his face.

"Damn it," he muttered angrily, looking down at the satin bed sheets and fisted a hand in them. He was dead tired but, for fear of having another nightmare, he most likely wasn't going to go back to sleep… He placed a hand just above his ribcage and inhaled slowly._ 'At least I didn't get stabbed again.' _The silver haired male's fingers raked through his hair just before he placed his face in his hands._ 'But this time, that dream seemed different… Weirder.'_

"Is something wrong, Riku?"

Said teen had immediately been startled by the tiny, quiet voice that had crept up on him and caused him to look up from his palms. Riku turned to the bed across from him as Sora shifted into a sitting position and he stared at the brunet, his cerulean irises made omnipresent by the slither of moonlight that slipped through the large indigo curtains. "…Sora? What are you still doing up?"

"I heard you mumbling and turning in your sleep, and when you jumped up I guess that fully woke me," the brunet answered quietly. Riku gave him an apologetic glance and threw his covers off.

"I'm sorry. You can go back to sleep now… I'm going to go for a little walk." Riku rose to his bare feet and treaded softly to the corner of the room to get his shoes and jacket. However, the wan smile on the taller boys face alerted Sora enough to notice that something was wrong.

"Now? Are you sure? You need rest too, and you're not familiar with this world or even this castle; I don't want you to get lost." Sora chuckled timidly and kicked away his sheets as well.

"I just need to clear my thoughts. I won't go far, so go ahead and lay back down," Riku clarified and gestured to his friend to stay put. And he didn't really want to tell Sora that he knew this castle well _enough_. His words hadn't stopped Sora from pouting and hopping out of the bed, though.

"Is it something you want to talk about? Those dreams again?" The brunet inquired with a bit of worry lining his features and his voice. Riku sighed as his best friend tagged along, but he was grateful for the offer. He truly was.

"I don't want you to worry. Just please, go to back to sleep." Riku held Sora's shoulders in place before he carefully opened the door. "But…I'll be worried either way." Sora's eyes watered slightly and his bottom lip quivered, forming the pout that Riku could never resist.

Riku sighed and rubbed his temple, though he couldn't keep a grin off of his lips. "Okay, okay… You can come if you stop with that face." Sora gave his impish smile and trailed after his mumbling best friend, laughing at being called an 'evil little monkey' of all things.

"So, do you want to talk about your dream? Maybe I can help you out. You can tell me, Riku. I-I mean I won't force you, but I'm just throwing it out there." Sora coughed lightly as he glanced around at the familiar, now-decorated scenery of the large, dark castle and the eerie statues before finally resting his eyes on his silent friend.

"It…was different from the normal nightmares. This time there were voices—a lot of them—and they overlapped each other and wouldn't stop. Some were easier to make out than others, and then the shadow appeared. Some things were said," Riku doggedly cleared his throat to try and avoid the subjects that were actually brought up, "And that's all I remember before waking up." The two silently walked to the large foyer door and the silver haired teen slid it open.

"It doesn't sound like much went on, so what's really bothering you?" Sora asked, folding his arms in an attempt to warm the chills that spread through his body when Riku opened the door. "I don't know. Maybe it was just the fact that I can't stand the darkness longer than I have to," he half-lied and slipped outside, waiting for Sora to follow him, and then smiled lightly. The moment the brunet stepped into the snow, he yelped when a harsh wind slapped against his bare arms. He really should've brought his jacket also…

'_Smart move, Sora,' _the brunet thought as he felt a chill run up his spine.

"A-Are you sure?" Sora asked as they walked through the gate and over the bridge before Riku stopped halfway to look out into the courtyard. Sora leaned over the rail next to him and folded his arms on it – causing Riku to immediately notice the small bumps indicating that the brunet was freezing. Figures he wouldn't just come out and say he was too cold.

"Yeah…" At Riku's response, the brunet replied quite unstably, "B-But—" Riku watched the other teen shiver and try to keep warm as he struggled to finish his sentence. A smile lit his features and he took a step closer, giving a tiny laugh at the other's chattering teeth. '_So dense,'_ the silver haired teen thought and he lightly ruffled the teen's cinnamon spikes. "Come here." Riku took his jacket off and gently wrapped it around Sora's slender frame. "I thought you knew enough to stay warm. You're going to catch a cold, you scatterbrain." Riku stared at Sora with a fond glow in his viridian eyes as he zipped up the oversized shirt and teasingly slid a hand into the brunet's hair again; a soft chuckle escaped his parted lips as he did so.

"But now you're going to be cold! You can't get sick either!" Sora protested, but snuggled against the offered cloth while his brows creased.

"I'm fine; you know I rarely get sick. That's why I decided to go for a walk now. And it's nice out here, despite the cold." Riku looked around the snow covered castle and smiled.

"Yeah. It is beautiful here in the winter," Sora added with a shy glance up at his friend. The fresh falling snow had begun to stick to his hair and eyelashes, giving him a frozen, ethereal appearance. He had never really noticed before how beautiful Riku looked when he was completely at ease with his surroundings… "But still, I don't want you to be cold." Sora timidly sidled up against Riku and leaned his head on the teen's shoulders.

'_I'm suddenly feeling so warm now. Even my face…'_ Sora exhaled softly as he hid his slightly reddened face into his friend's arm. Riku was momentarily surprised by the action before he settled and became much calmer; and they both leaned over the railing so that they could watch the snow glide and rest over everything it landed on, creating a sparkling glow all around the castle. Neither of them thought it was strange at how close they had grown to each other, not even when Riku briefly leaned his head against Sora's.

"Riku… What if we don't make it in time? Those people… We don't even know who they are or what they want to use that thing for, and so far we haven't even found out any clues on where it is or what it's called. And with that book gone…" Sora sighed and looked up at Riku, blinking as his lashes too were covered with a glittering frost. In that moment, Riku wasn't sure if he could withstand _not_ giving in and pressing a sweet kiss to the slightly paling, yet still rosy lips—even as a small measure of reassurance for the poor dispirited brunet. But, somehow he stayed strong and resisted.

'_Don't scare him away_,' the wary part of his mind warned and he looked away from his friend's worried features. "I'm sure there are more books in the Beast's library that will have something about it. If not then we'll just have to keep searching elsewhere. Remember that we have Leon and Merlin helping out as well. We _will_ find it, so don't worry." Riku slowly and cautiously wrapped his arm around Sora and smiled when the brunet leaned into the embrace.

Despite the feeling from the warm contact – which he was enjoying – Riku was kind of alarmed at the switch in character. Sora was acting relatively pessimistic while _he_ held the part of reassurance. Not that he wasn't glad he was able to get the brunet happy again, he just didn't like seeing him upset in the first place.

"I know. Maybe I'm just thinking about it too much. I am kind of tired." Sora yawned to prove his statement and tiredly set his head on Riku's shoulder once more.

The silver haired teen waited for a few minutes before he tightened his arms and pulled back slightly. "All right, then. Let's head back before I have to carry you to our room." Riku grinned when the brunet snapped his sleepy eyes opened.

"I can make it to the castle, I'm not that tired…" He yawned again and blushed. He had not been imagining what it felt like to be held that way by Riku! Certainly not… Oh, screw it—he most certainly had been. "Let's go," Sora ordered and clutched the front of Riku's oversized jacket to bring it tighter around him, hiding his face in the high zipped collar.

"Don't pass out on the way; you'll freeze over out here." Riku grinned while their bodies swayed back and forth as they walked. Sora continuously bumped into Riku, barely able to keep his eyes open, and his lip jutted out. "Mean… You wouldn't even help me if I passed out in the cold, harsh snow? You'd let your best friend turn into an icicle… Remind me why I tolerate you?" He teased with a pout and eventually leaned on Riku for support, still trying to fight off the sleep that was rapidly threatening to take over him. The silver haired teen simply chuckled and pulled his best friend closer in response.

'_I'd like to know the answer to that, too,'_ Riku thought and snuck a glance down at his drowsy friend.

"You know, I hope I can convince those guys to stop before they hurt themselves. I don't want to get rid of them like the members of Organization XII." Riku noticed that Sora's tone a changed to be a bit regretful and distant. Riku hummed in response and looked down at the brunet's sleepy, yet resentful expression.

"It's not like they couldn't have asked for your help. That's all they had to do," Riku assured the brunet and gently rubbed his side.

"But…all they wanted was a chance to feel whole like they remembered it, like Roxas remembered. And I destroyed them without thinking…" Riku sighed and opened the door to their room and peered inside to make sure that both Donald and Goofy were still asleep.

The silver haired teen ushered Sora to his bed and sat down on the edge when the brunet crawled in. "It's not good to be regretful about things you can't change. They give you a chance to learn more and move on with things in the future. And I don't think you could've done things differently, it was their desire to be complete that affected their better judgment. Just because they wanted a heart didn't mean they would be a good person after they got one…" Riku explained. He was trying to put some rational thought behind what Sora was thinking, but he wasn't sure if the brunet understood him or not.

Sora frowned and brought the shirt tighter around his body, taking in the scent that was uniquely Riku's. And before he was aware of it he, sighed dreamily and cuddled into the large jacket_. 'But that doesn't mean that they _all_ would've been bad.' _At the thought, Axel and Roxas' faces flashed through his mind and Sora tightened his grip on his friend's shirt_._ "Riku," Sora murmured, waiting a few moments for the silver haired teen to grunt in response and look at him.

"Do you think…that I'm a horrible person for destroying people who only wanted to be complete?" He questioned, his voice deterred from fatigue. Riku had been a little more than surprised to hear the question coming from his best friend.

"Of course I don't, Sora. How could you even think that?" He could see the other male's face sadden and his voice lowered into a softer tone and he placed a hand on the brunet's shoulder. "Look, you need rest; you're starting to say some impossible things." He chuckled and rose to his feet. "Goodnight Sora." Riku smiled down at his half-awake friend and they stared at each other for a long while.

"'Night…Riku. I…" Sora trailed off, muttering incoherently, and Riku could've sworn he heard the brunet mumble something meaningful in between the gibberish. He gave a small laugh and played it off as the brunet talking in his sleep.

"Dork." He affectionately ran a hand through Sora's soft hair and smiled when the brunet curled up and buried his face in Riku's shirt. "Dream some good dreams for me," Riku whispered and sat down on the bed, unable to fall back asleep and lounged against the headboard next to his friend.

His weary jade eyes locked on the brunet's features for a while before he gazed through the small space in the curtains and waited for the sun to rise.

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**End – Chapter 5**

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Hello again. *runs and hides*

Er... I just want to take the time to say that I am SO sorry that I haven't been updating as soon as I had hoped. A _lot_ of things have happened these past few years. A lot.

But I have been writing/drawing/ etc. in my free time! I have chapter 13 of BML about half-way done – I just have to write the lemon and then revise it. I don't have much time this year, being a senior and all, but I still have enough that I can sit around and contemplate on what I want to write. Which I'll be doing more often, BTW

And thanks so much to all the people who have reviewed. In my other fics as well; thanks guys! I'll try to update BML soon!

I decided to use the Beauty and the Beast Enchanted Christmas movie thing as reference for how this chapter was going to be written out. I know that at the end of KH 2 there's a little scene with Belle and the Beast dancing and he's a human, but…just pretend that didn't happen yet. (Hence the reason that he's still a beast, and they're getting ready for Christmas and such.) I haven't watched that movie in a looooong time, and I have no idea what I did with it, so I'm not really sure what to do with the next chapter… HALP PLZ!! I don't remember much of that movie, except that there's an evil church organ thing that's voiced by Tim Curry XD So please bear with me :'D (And due to my rusty French, I tried to keep Lumiere speaking in english XP)

Oh, and the title for this chapter comes from the song 'Start again' by Red. (Oh yeah, and the opening quote is from their song 'Shadows' haha)

Again, thank you so much.

Let me know what you think~! Reviews are always accepted with much love :D (And if you spot any errors, please let me know.)

I'm trying, guys :]


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